


Captive Prince Ficlets Posted on Tumblr

by Josselin



Category: Captive Prince - C. S. Pacat
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-05-10
Updated: 2018-02-25
Packaged: 2018-06-07 14:29:07
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 33
Words: 30,592
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6808978
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Josselin/pseuds/Josselin
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This fic is an archive of various prompt-based ficlets originally posted on tumblr.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Laurent goes missing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anonymous asked: After Kings Rising, Laurent goes missing and Damen being his protective self sets up a search party.

Jord arrived in the middle of the meeting and he didn’t even need to say anything. The expression on his face was sufficiently eloquent. Damen stood up, gestured to Nikandros to take over the meeting, and left the rest of the kyroi. 

Nikandros dismissed the meeting and followed Damen into the hall where was interrogating Jord. “Why didn’t you–”

“You know how he is.”

“You should have told me.”

Jord’s face showed that in retrospect, he clearly wished that he had told Damen. “He said not to.”

“Four hours?” said Damen.

Jord nodded grimly.

“Get the men ready to ride.” Jord saluted and left at a run.

Damen turned toward Nikandros. “I have to–”

Nikandros nodded. He waited a beat. Damen looked as though all of his attention were elsewhere. “He is resourceful,” Nikandros offered. “He is likely fine.”

Damen spared him a tired smile. “Of course. But who knows what trouble he has gotten into.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [reblog on tumblr!](http://josselinkohl.tumblr.com/post/142042456272/after-kings-rising-laurent-goes-missing-and-damen)


	2. Nikandros becomes Laurent's honor guard part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> From @swamperation-ogreload: Lamen with overprotective older brother “if you hurt my baby brother I’ll kill you” auguste??

Auguste begged for the chance to speak to Damianos alone. His uncle didn’t like it; his council didn’t like it, but he had no pride left when it came to Laurent, and Damianos seemed like the most reasonable of the Akielon royalty.

The Akielon guards insisted that he leave his sword before they left the two of them alone. Damianos was still armed, his sword at his waist, though his expression was aimiable.

Auguste fell to his knees. Damianos frowned, and seemed about to ask a question.

“Please,” said Auguste. “I know—“ he swallowed, because he knew this all too well from the political negotiations. “I know that I have nothing to offer you, and that the peace hostage is critical to our treaty, but I beg you to please treat my brother with respect.”

Auguste snuck a look up at Damianos, whose frown had deepened. “Of course—“ Damianos started.

“He’s only a child,” Auguste continued. “He thinks he is a man but he is a boy.” Auguste forced himself to continue to the most painful part of it. “I know,” he said, “That Akielons keep youths as bedslaves.”

He glanced up again and saw comprehension dawn on Damianos’s face, rapidly followed by anger. “We do not have sex with children,” Damianos said emphatically, with genunine horror in his voice. “And political hostages would always be treated with respect appropriate to their status.”

Auguste fell from his knees to the floor in a collapse of relief and continued desperation.

Damianos crouched down to the floor next to Auguste, and rested a gentle hand on his shoulder. “I will ensure that your brother is treated well,” he said. “Wait here.”

Auguste waited. He composed himself slightly and drew himself up off of the floor and stood, straightening his clothes.

Damianos returned, guiding another Akielon man along with him. Damianos’s hand rested on the other man’s bicep. The other man was around Auguste’s own age, almost as tall as Damianos himself, dressed in the similar fashion of Akielon warriors. His skin was a slightly darker shade of brown.

Damianos introduced his companion. “This is my shield-brother Nikandros.” Nikandros nodded his head solemnly at Auguste.

“Nikandros has just finished two years of service guarding the Kingsmeet, one of the most sacred places in Akielos. Only the most talented are selected for that honor.” Damianos and Auguste had been speaking Veretian, so the Akielon words stood out as odd amongst Damianos’s speech, calling attention to the accents of the names and the Kingsmeet.

Nikandros must have understood some Veretian himself, because he lowered his eyes, as though the prince’s praise were overwhelming.

“Nikandros,” Damianos said solemnly, speaking Akielon now. “I would ask you to undertake the next task I give you with the same diligence you served at the Kingsmeet.” Auguste could understand most of the words Damianos used, and he was speaking slowly and clearly.

“Of course, exalted,” Nikandros said.

“We have reached a peace treaty with the Veretians,” Damianos continued to Nikandros. “The younger Veretian prince is going to join us in Akielos, as a guarantee of the sanctity of the treaty. I would like you,” Damianos gestured toward Nikandros, “to be the honor guard for the Veretian prince. You will ensure that he is treated with the respect due to his station and protected from any harm. As he serves as a symbol of the treaty between us and Vere, I am entrusting you with the preservation of the peace between Akielos and Vere.” 

Damianos flicked his eyes from Nikandros to Auguste, as though checking whether Auguste understood. Auguste nodded thankfully. Damianos looked back at Nikandros. “Do you understand?”

“I understand, exalted,” said Nikandros.

“And do you accept this charge?”

“I accept, exalted.”

Damianos nodded, and with that it was settled. He turned back to Auguste and spoke in Veretian. “Nikandros will guard your brother, and he will write to you once a season to report on how your brother is faring. You may ask him any questions you like, and then we will fetch Prince Laurent for the journey.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [reblog on tumblr!](http://josselinkohl.tumblr.com/post/142124244887/from-swamperation-ogreload-lamen-with)
> 
>  
> 
> Tags: #CAPTIVE PRINCE #MY FIC #FIC PROMPTS FOR JOSS #SOMEONE ASK ME ABOUT A SEQUEL #BECAUSE I WANT TO WRITE THE PART LATER WHERE NIKANDROS IS ALL SKEPTICAL OF DAMEN'S DESIRE TO COURT LAURENT #AND CHAPERONES ALL OF THEIR DATES #AND LAURENT KEEPS SNEAKING INTO DAMEN'S BEDROOM AND DAMEN IS LIKE #OMG NIKANDROS IS GOING TO KILL ME #TW: MENTIONS OF CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE #NIKANDROS THE HONOR GUARD


	3. Makedon's children

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> tebtosca asked: Fic prompt! Anything to do with Makedon and his new BFF Laurent? Maybe Nikandros is jealous and/or confused that Makedon has taken to Laurent so well. Or Makedon gets Laurent drunk again and Laurent decides he can totally wrestle someone naked. Bonus points for excessive griva-drinking and the use of the words "Ha ha!"

After their third hunting trip, Makedon introduces Laurent to his children. 

There are twelve of them, and Laurent’s eyes widen slightly as they all line up in a row and Laurent counts them. They have arranged themselves in a military straight line with the tallest on Laurent’s left all the way to the shortest on pudgy legs on Laurent’s right.

“You have twelve children,” Laurent says.

“Ha! Ha!” says Makedon, stroking his beard. “The thirteenth is still at his mother’s breast.” 

All of the lined-up children are wearing notched belts, and they all look like Makedon, even the girl. 

Laurent stares. One of the children says, “Do you want to try Grand-Uncle’s latest batch?” 

Laurent does wish to try this. After he’s sampled Grand-Uncle’s wares – which Makedon’s older children swig to no apparent ill effect and younger children dip their fingers in liberally – then Laurent is induced to play a game with them. 

Laurent is instructed to sit on a stump. One of the children ties a blindfold over his eyes with griva-covered fingers. “Wait for the signal,” the girl tells Laurent.

Damen arrives later. Laurent is beginning to lose patience and wondering if the griva bottle is within reach. “What are you doing?”

“Playing with Makedon’s miniature army.”

Damen sounds amused. “The kids are gone.”

Laurent pulls off the blindfold. The children are in fact gone. “Do you think the little one has really killed three men?” says Laurent.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [reblog on tumblr](http://josselinkohl.tumblr.com/post/142270257172/fic-prompt-anything-to-do-with-makedon-and-his)


	4. Nicaise lives

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anonymous asked: Post KR, Nicaise lives AU and how Laurent deals with him/takes him in after returning to Vere

Nicaise managed, in one breath, to insult Damen’s family, Akielon culture, Damen’s newly cultivated facial hair, the tunic that Charls had assured Damen was the height of fashion, and anyone who deigned to associate with him.

“Your elocution is excellent,” said Damen.

“I don’t understand why he keeps you,” said Nicaise. “I thought he’d had it cut off so it can’t be for sex. Do you have some kind of skill?”

“I am not sure I understand why he keeps you either,” said Damen, and moved his fork a bit further away from Nicaise’s reach.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [reblog on tumblr!](http://josselinkohl.tumblr.com/post/142629043127/post-kr-nicaise-lives-au-and-how-laurent-deals)


	5. Nikandros becomes Laurent's honor guard part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anonymous asked: Fic prompt: That sequel to the "Nikandros is Laurent's honor guard" ficlet with Nikandros the very skeptical chaperone?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Continued from [part 1](http://archiveofourown.org/works/6808978/chapters/15547600).

Damen had tried half a dozen different strategies. 

He had formally asked Nikandros’s permission, which Nikandros had denied with a skeptical list of all of the blond women Damen had bedded in the past year, and there were rather more than even Damen remembered if Nikandros was to be believed. 

He had written to Laurent’s older brother to ask Auguste’s permission, instead, and Damen was not certain whether it was coincidence or if Nikandros had written Auguste also, but Auguste had indicated he would defer to Nikandros as Laurent’s guard of honor, and that if Nikandros were to give his blessing then Auguste was supportive of the match. 

Damen had tried to give Nikandros Delpha, and to relieve him of his responsibilities concerning Laurent with the rationale that the prince was now eighteen and of age, but Nikandros had only narrowed his eyes, modestly declined the honor of being kyroi of Delpha, and pointed out that Veretians did not consider youths of age until twenty-one. 

He attempted to beg Laurent’s favors as a prize if he won in the okton, and Nikandros managed to knock one of his spears off course and one of the men from the spear throwing match won the event in the games.

Finally Damen walked with his friend in the orchards. The apricots were in season. “How can I prove myself to you?” he asked. “What could I do to prove my intentions are honorable and my interest is sincere?”

Nikandros frowned, again. “I must think on it,” he said.

In the end, Damen was unsuccessful at convincing his friend. 

Fortunately, Laurent was more wily than Damen himself. 

Laurent managed, through several contrivances, to dismiss Damen’s guard and sneak into Damen’s chambers one morning. Damen pulled a sheet up over his lap modestly and sat up in surprise. “Laurent! You–there is no chaperone! Nikandros will–”

Laurent came across the room to the bed. “Yes, he is coming,” said Laurent.

“You must go–” said Damen.

“I asked him,” said Laurent, “What would happen if we were to be discovered together as he fears. He said, then there would have to be a marriage.”

“It would be only honorable–” Damen said.

Laurent nodded. “So, kiss me now, and then when we are discovered together, Nikandros can have no objection.”

The plan unfolded before Damen. Laurent was unlacing his own jacket in front of him. It was sneaky and deceitful and Damen was not sure he would have ever thought of it himself. 

They could both hear footsteps in the hall. 

Laurent was beginning to look slightly uncertain. “Do you want me, or not?”

And just as Nikandros pushed open the door to the king’s chambers, Damen wrapped a hand around Laurent’s neck and drew him in for a kiss.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [reblog on tumblr!](http://josselinkohl.tumblr.com/post/144053646817/fic-prompt-that-sequel-to-the-nikandros-is)


	6. Jealous Damen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anonymous asked: *soft gasp* prompts!! we often see talk about laurent being a bit possessive, maybe even jealous.. but we never never see any talk of damen being jealous, not really. maybe insecure damen?? some fancy man tries to charm laurent and damen unleashes the giant (green) animal neither he or laurent knew he had inside??

Objectively, Damen told himself, Isander was a perfectly nice man and there was no reason for Nikandros to not have kept Isander in his household. Many of the kyroi had kept former slaves in their households after the emancipation–it was seen as something of a kindness for a former slave who did not wish to leave friends and relations, or who might not have had had many opportunities for employment readily available. Damen had been trying to remedy that, also, but it took time. In the meantime, he supposed there was nothing wrong with Nikandros extending to Isander an offer to stay on as a dancer, and with Isander graciously accepting.

The problem, Damen knew, was with Damen himself.

Isander was perfectly behaved, submissive and unobtrusive without the bowing obsequiousness some of the former slaves struggled to shed. Isander was learning Veretian, since he lived on the border, and he spoke politely to Vannes when she inquired after his health. Isander even had the gall to actually be a good dancer. 

It wasn’t Isander’s fault that all Damen could think of was Isander at Laurent’s feet, Isander with Laurent’s fingers tangled in his hair, Isander serving Laurent in the bath, Isander biting his lower lip as he struggled with Laurent’s laces.

The dance was ending. Laurent elbowed him, hard. Damen looked over. 

“Control yourself,” said Laurent.

Damen frowned.

“You look like you are about to murder the poor boy. You must stop taking out your new hatred for slavery on former slaves.”

Damen felt his brow crease. “It is not that. It is–” he suddenly realized he did not necessarily want to express to Laurent what he was actually thinking.

It did not matter. Laurent laughed at him lightly. They were in the middle of the hall but had a small amount of privacy afforded by being the only ones at the high table. “You’re jealous.”

“I–” am not, Damen had been starting to say, but it wasn’t true, so he bit it off.

“Do you wish you were my slave, again?” Laurent said, teasing.

But Damen turned to him, suddenly serious. He looked at Laurent’s plate. He tore a small piece of the flat bread, covered it with some of the spiced meat, and raised the bite toward Laurent. 

He saw Laurent take in what he was doing. Laurent did not lean in, but as Damen moved his hand closer, Laurent opened his mouth willingly enough. Damen fed him the bite of food. 

Laurent ate meticulously. He chewed slowly. His eyes were locked on Damen’s. When he finished, Damen thought of feeding him another bite, but Laurent reached for Damen’s plate. 

Laurent brought a piece of vegetable dipped in sauce to Damen’s lips. His fingers brushed against Damen’s chin as he took his hand away. 

Damen was dimly aware that Isander’s dance was ending and the hall filled with applause, but Isander now seemed very far away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [reblog on tumblr!](http://josselinkohl.tumblr.com/post/144143789512/soft-gasp-prompts-we-often-see-talk-about)


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anonymous asked: Headcanon that Damen loves to leave hickeys on Laurent's neck, a lot of hickeys, for showing to everyone that Laurent is his lover. Laurent has tried to return the thing buuuttt his hickeys aren't noticeable with Damen's dark skin.

Jokaste’s dress was a white linen sheath, pinned at the drape over each of her shoulders. The pins were plain. She had sent her jewelry off with Meniados. But she had told her woman to make sure that the drape of her dress showed off the pale skin of her neck. The drape was low enough to show the curve of skin where neck turned to shoulder, and to hint at the curve at the top of her breast, large with milk for the babe.

She has a shawl. She needs the shawl for warmth in this dungeon. Cold seeps from the rock walls, even through the hastily hung tapestries. But warmth aside, she is planning to drop the shawl to taunt Damen with the skin he used to run his lips over. She will greet him as a lover, she will say hello, and she will show him what he used to be able to touch but is no longer permitted.

Laurent appears instead. She notices right away that his jacket is laced up to his chin. He tilts his head casually and a sliver of pale skin is exposed, and there are no marks on it. Is he holding out on Damianos? Are they quarreling? Have they been separated? 

She wants to see Damen himself–he was supposed to arrive, not this princeling–because she will be able to figure out so much just from how he stands, from the expression on his face. Does he let this little princeling try to mark him? His skin does not show bruising very well, but she thinks she will be able to tell nonetheless.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [reblog on tumblr](http://josselinkohl.tumblr.com/post/144342429142/headcanon-that-damen-loves-to-leave-hickeys-on)


	8. Honeymoon

Damen relaxed on the bed, his hands resting behind his head and his elbows spread out to the side like a butterfly. Laurent had arisen long enough to pull on a shirt and tie back his hair, though Damen had woke and spotted him before he had managed to find his trousers.

“This is what you do on a honeymoon,” Damen said. 

Laurent appeared skeptical, a line furrowing his forehead. “Lounge in bed?”

Damen nodded and stretched out one of his hands toward his lover. “Relax. Rest. Enjoy each other.”

Laurent took a few steps back toward the bed but remained out of Damen’s reach. 

“For the whole week?” said Laurent. 

Damen let his arm drop to the bed. He closed his eyes to imagine an entire week, just he and Laurent alone, and no responsibilities to distract them. “We can picnic out in the ruins,” he said “Drink fig wine while we watch the sun set over the lake. Take one of those small wooden boats out on the water and watch fish lazily catch bugs.”

“I was given to understand,” said Laurent, “that the primary pastime of an Akielon honey moon—” he pronounced it as two independent words “—was fucking.”

Damen would not have put it that crudely, but, “Yes.” He raised his hand again, a wordless plea for Laurent to rejoin him on the bed, and this time Laurent conceded, settling himself again on the bedding next to Damen. 

Damen reached for his hand and took it, grasping it in his own and holding it warmly, stroking his fingers over Laurent’s palm. 

“Take off your shirt,” he said, and coaxed Laurent back to the bed.

By mid morning, Laurent refused to be idle any longer, and they left the comfort of the tent Damen had set up the night before to explore the ruins. Laurent was full of talk. Laurent commented about the likely purposes of the architectural ruins they explored, calling one set of rocks a house and another a barracks and a third a factory for fish sauce, though all of the marble stones poking up through the greenery seemed similar to Damen, all impossibly old and hallowed in the same fashion as the Kingsmeet. Laurent compared the tortoise they came across to one he’d found once in the gardens in Arles, and he had a Veretian word for the nature of the clouds. Damen learned that there were four separate Veretian words to identify different types of clouds, and of course Laurent had learned all of them from a book.

Damen did not wish to be outdone in Laurent’s game of knowledge sharing, so he told Laurent which of the red wild berries were safe to eat, and then after both of their lips were tinged with color he leaned in to kiss Laurent and chase the sweetness of the fruit away. 

“Let’s go back to the tent,” Damen said.

“There’s no need for that,” said Laurent, and Damen thought for a moment that Laurent was declining his invitation for sex, but then Laurent went to his knees and left streaks of red berry stain on Damen’s cock as well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [reblog on tumblr!](http://josselinkohl.tumblr.com/post/148950217412/i-cant-decide-if-there-is-actually-a-fic-idea)


	9. In the Vaskian Tent

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anonymous asked: can we have a different (smutty) outcome for Damen and Laurent on the vaskian tent... featuring that lovely loincloth?

The ice on his bruise was cold. Damen’s bare skin wanted to flinch away from where Laurent was holding the compress and Damen forced himself to remain perfectly still, letting Laurent hold the pack against the bruising. 

The tent was quiet, and within there was only the sound of their breath and the flicker of the oil lamp. The noise from outside the tent seemed far more distant than it actually was beyond the canvas covering, as though the sounds of the women and the dogs and the horses were much further away.

Laurent’s proximity was having an effect, despite the bruising and the exhaustion and the fact that they had another day of hard riding through the mountains ahead of them the next day. Damen closed his eyes, fisted his fingers in the furs beneath him, and thought of snow. He imagined that his entire body was covered in the ice that Laurent had pressed against the bruise, he pictured being cold and shivering.

It was too much to hope that Laurent had not noticed. When Damen blinked his eyes open, Laurent cast a casual glance down at his lap, as if to banish any thought that Damen might be concealing anything with the flap of a loincloth the Vaskians had given him, and then brought his gaze up to meet Damen’s eyes again. His look was bold. 

“You are thinking of the women around the coupling fire,” said Laurent.

Laurent’s pupils were very large in the darkness of the tent. Damen could barely see a blue rim around the dark center of his eyes. “I’m not,” said Damen, not entirely certain why he was forsaking a convenient excuse, but unwilling to let the lie stand between them.

Laurent continued his conversation with himself, ignoring Damen’s reply as he sometimes did. “I saw you with them,” he said. “On our last visit to the foothills.”

Damen wanted to close his eyes again but there was something hypnotic and snake-like in Laurent’s gaze. Laurent did not even blink.

“It surprised me,” said Laurent, “That you used your mouth. I would not have thought you would lower yourself to—” Laurent stopped abruptly, and then dropped Damen’s gaze and looked down.

A drip of water had escaped the compress and trailed down Damen’s abdomen. For a moment both of them watched it. 

“You could go,” said Laurent, repeating his earlier offer to let Damen enjoy himself with the women. Damen had not caught sight of Kashel, the woman he remembered most vividly from the last time, but there had been other women making overtures at him with their eyes or with gestures.

“I’m not thinking about the women,” Damen said.

Laurent lifted the compress of ice away from Damen’s side and inspected the bruise again. Damen raised one hand and brushed another drop of water off of his stomach. Damen expected Laurent to reapply the compress or to hand it to Damen and move away—as far away as the tent might permit—but Laurent remained strangely still.

Then Laurent reached for him. Damen was surprised; he suppressed a flinch. Laurent dispensed with the loincloth with a flick of his wrist and had his hand wrapped around Damen’s cock before Damen could suck in a surprised breath. His hand was cold from holding the ice compress, but Damen’s cock jerked eagerly in his grasp anyway.

“This is what you were thinking of,” said Laurent. His voice sounded as cool as the ice, and he framed the words as a statement, but there was something of a lingering tremor beneath them. As though a question hid in the words somewhere, a fine crack beneath sheets of ice.

Damen answered the unstated question. “Yes.”

Laurent’s gaze seemed considering. He did not move his hand. Damen could feel his own heart beating within his chest.

“Or perhaps you were hoping I’d use my mouth,” Laurent continued, punctuating this with a stroke of his hand. “That’d I’d lower myself, as you did with the Vaskian women.”

Damen was far past the point where he was capable of Laurent’s style of word play. “Laurent,” he said, managing Laurent’s name. His voice was deep. 

“I haven’t given you permission to address me by name,” Laurent said, though the way he was jerking Damen off did not match the verbal rebuke. 

Damen bit off saying Laurent’s name again. “Please,” he said, and it came out in Akielon.

“You’re very presumptuous,” said Laurent. Against all odds, there was something fond in his voice. Something of the same ridiculous feeling Damen had had earlier in the evening, when he had thought of Laurent as a rose bush and imagined himself enjoying every prick. 

So Damen lived up to Laurent’s expectation of presumptuousness, leaned in, and kissed him.

Laurent was surprised, and he pulled his head back. His hand stilled. 

Damen raised one of his own hands, and, very slowly, he brought it to curve around Laurent’s cheek. Then, making evident his intentions so as not to surprise Laurent again, he leaned in and met Laurent’s lips a second time.

He let it be brief, a tender brush of lips before he pulled away again to regard Laurent in the darkness. Laurent’s eyes were very wide, his lips a tiny bit parted. He was speechless, Damen realized after a moment, and something within him treasured that moment.

“That is what I was thinking of.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [reblog on tumblr!](http://josselinkohl.tumblr.com/post/149028065527/can-we-have-a-different-smutty-outcome-for-damen)


	10. Nik/Laurent

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> delfeur asked: JOSS WRITE NIK/LAURENT

The waiting was quiet, and the quiet was almost companionable. Nikandros had felt awkward when Laurent had joined their trip with his horse at the last moment, self-conscious about the single tent that they had packed. He had offered to bow out and remain in Ios, but Laurent had said, “How will Damen’s plan for us to become friends work if you stay here?” and Damen had looked slightly guilty when Nikandros shot a glance his way.

So Nikandros had accompanied them, and Damen had sounded sincere when he had thanked Nikandros for his support before he approached the Kingsmeet alone to make his penance.

While they waited for Damen, Nikandros and Laurent did not talk. Laurent silently tended to the horses for a time, and Nikandros built up the fire. Laurent came to join him near the fire as the wind on the mountain top blew colder, and they sat near to each other on a large boulder near the fire pit. Nikandros thought back to his time of service at the Kingsmeet, his thoughts filled with many small things and nothing in particular. The faces of the men he had served with, the pride he had felt at being selected and having the honor to serve.

The wind blew more sharply and Laurent pulled his scarf up over his head. Nikandros leaned closer to the fire, and spoke loud enough for his voice to carry over the wind.

“I asked Damen if he would honor me with the truth of what happened,” he nodded toward the Kingsmeet to make his question clear. “Before. When you went together and you were taken.”

Laurent looked over, and clear blue eyes met his own. Laurent did not speak.

“He said that he violated the rules. So I asked why he did so. He said that it was not his story to tell.”

Nikandros let that sit between them for a moment. The wind brought a swirl of leaves their direction and one of them fell into the fire and dissolved into sparks.

Laurent had a crisp way of speaking, in Akielon, and a faint remaining lilt in his accent. “Is that a question?”

“Yes,” said Nikandros.

“My uncle had a taste for boys,” said Laurent.

“Is that an answer?” said Nikandros.

“Yes,” said Laurent.

The silence drew out between them again. They were close enough to the mountaintop that Nikandros wondered if there might be snow.

“Damen didn’t know,” said Nikandros.

“He didn’t know it had once been me,” said Laurent, simply.

Nikandros nodded. He looked up toward the sky. He thought that he could make out a snowflake falling from the grey clouds and drifting in the wind, and then, as he was questioning if he had really seen it, he saw a second one, and then third, and then there were too many to count, falling gently.

“Thank you,” said Nikandros. He glanced over at Laurent. Laurent was wearing several layers of Veretian clothing, including a fur coat that made him vaguely resemble a fattened squirrel.

“For what?” said Laurent.

“The truth,” said Nikandros. “Perhaps the next time we are on a trip you will honor me with the truth of why you did not show up with reinforcements at Charcy.”

Laurent laughed, and his voice echoed across the clearing. He pulled a cord at his neckline in answer, and then after loosening the laces, drew his jacket and his shirt off to the side to reveal a nasty scar on his shoulder. A knife wound, Nikandros surmised. “That is why I did not show up at Charcy,” said Laurent. “I was…tied up.”

Nikandros reached toward Laurent reflexively, and brushed his fingers over the scar tissue on Laurent’s skin, realizing only as he was already touching Laurent how intimate of a gesture it was. Laurent shivered as the cold air blew into his jacket where he had loosened it, and his revealed white skin was goose pimpled.

Nikandros drew his hand back.

“I wish to apologize,” he said. It was a time for apologies. Their mood had been somber, climbing to the Kingsmeet. Damen had been reflecting on his crime and the penance he had planned, and Nikandros and Laurent had found themselves echoing his mood.

“For what?” said Laurent.

Nikandros looked Laurent in the eye. “When we met,” he said, “I misjudged you.”

Laurent raised one shoulder, and then let it drop. “I gave you every reason to do so,” he said.

“Still,” said Nikandros. “It was unfair of me. I apologize.”

It was traditional, in Akielos, to seal a formal apology with a kiss, and that had been all that Nikandros had intended when he leaned in. He realized after their lips met that Laurent might not have known that was how Akielons apologized to each other, and he opened his mouth to apologize again. To explain.

It was Laurent who leaned in the second time, and met his lips again. Laurent touched his face with one of his gloved hands, and brushed their lips together, tilting his head to find the correct angle.

Instead of explaining, Nikandros found himself saying, “You kiss like Damen.”

Laurent sat back on the boulder. His eyes were very blue, and his face was hard to read. “I’ve only ever kissed Damen,” he said.

Nikandros tried to imagine having only kissed one man in his lifetime. It was difficult to think of. He was not even certain he could remember the first man he had kissed; the second had probably been within minutes of the first. “It’s a way to apologize,” said Nikandros, offering Laurent the explanation as another small apology itself.

Laurent’s eyelashes were very dark, Nikandros observed. They did not match his golden hair.

“There is nothing you did that merits apology. I was cruel,” said Laurent. “You judged correctly.”

Nikandros leaned in toward Laurent. Their foreheads almost touched. “Permit me to thank you, then. For returning my friend to me.”

Laurent tipped his head to the side, considering. “I am not going to return Delfeur to you.”

So they were laughing when Damen returned from the Kingsmeet and his penance, wrapped up in his heavy wool cloak against the wind and looking curiously from one of them to the other and wondering what the joke was.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [reblog on tumblr!](http://josselinkohl.tumblr.com/post/149217597172/joss-write-niklaurent)


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> #11 from the kiss prompt meme: A violent kiss

Their bodies were still as close together as they had been when Damen had thrown Laurent to the ground and kept him there with his weight. The knife was between them and pointed at Damen’s stomach, but Laurent was leaning away from the post and toward Damen. Damen had to hold himself very carefully so that he did not lean in toward Laurent himself. The knife between them pricked at his stomach.

“I hate you,” said Laurent. He was breathing heavily.

Laurent’s grip on the knife changed slightly and light from one of the torches glinted off the blade. 

“I hate you.” Laurent’s gaze moved from the knife between them to Damen’s eyes. When they stood this close together Laurent had to tip his chin up slightly to look into Damen’s eyes. Laurent hated that, Damen thought, and with another moment of insight he realized that he also knew that Laurent was lying.

“It’s not ever what I would have wanted,” said Damen, thinking back to what he had told Laurent. _‘You would have come for revenge, and I would have killed you. That’s how it would have been between us. Is that what you would have wanted?’_

“I hate you.” Laurent’s eyes held his as he spoke. “I’m thinking of killing you and you’re thinking of fucking me—”

Whatever else Laurent might have said was lost when Damen leaned in and took his lips. Laurent dropped the knife between him and Damen could hear it hit the sawdust as a noise very distant from the feeling of Laurent’s lips against his. 

Damen reached a hand up and carded it through Laurent’s hair, angling his face to meet his lips again, and Laurent let out a hiccoughing half-sob. “I hate you.” Laurent leaned in to Damen’s mouth. He bit Damen’s lip, not gently. “I hate you, I hate—”

His lips parted to Damen’s thumb and Damen took his mouth again. Laurent pushed away from the post and against Damen’s body with the same strength he had struggled against Damen with on the floor. 

Then Damen pulled his head away. He took a step backward. Laurent was breathless again, and his eyes flicked from Damen’s to where the knife had fallen on the floor and back to Damen’s eyes again. 

“I love you,” said Damen. He took up his sword and left the hall.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [reblog on tumblr!](http://josselinkohl.tumblr.com/post/153445729602/hmmm-damenlaurent-11)


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kiss to the wrong person! Btw love your writing.
> 
> #4 from the kiss prompt meme: A kiss given to the wrong person

Damen and his entourage were welcomed to the Veretian capital Arles with a Veretian entertainment. The entertainment was called a ‘masquerade’ and it was held in the royal gardens at the palace. The conceit of a masquerade, Ambassador Guion explained, was that everyone could don fancy costumes and masks, and then they could interact with each other with the freedom that accompanied being in disguise.

“I see,” said Damen. “It seems very Veretian,” he said, diplomatically.

Damen dressed for the masquerade as King Agathon, wearing the ancient style of chiton that Agathon’s statue sported in the Kingsmeet and decorating his hair with a wreath of olive leaves.

His costume, or perhaps more generally the arrival of a foreign prince in the capital, attracted a lot of attention from various members of the Veretian court. Damen explained to a woman wearing a mask of peacock feathers that Agathon had unified the kingdom of Akielos and that Damen was descended from him on his mother’s side. He endured another courtier’s comments about how scandalous it was that Damen’s chiton bared his arms and his legs to his knees—which seemed puzzling, the air even in Arles was pleasantly warm even into the evening, and the many layered costumes the Veretians wore had to be stifling.

Half way through the evening, Damen was seeking out King Auguste or some other member of the royal family to make his excuses. It would be rude to leave the entertainment without speaking to the host, Guion had told him, but he was tired from his travels and overwhelmed by the court and the courtiers.

He did not spot Auguste but he did spot Jokaste. Damen had prevailed upon her to make the trip to Vere with him so he would not have to endure events like this alone. Like Damen, she was wearing an Akielon fashion, and he could see the drapes of fine white linen down her back from a pin at the shoulder. The fabric swayed a bit as she moved and he could see the curve of the back of her calf above a leather sandal. She was wearing headdress and a mask, but he could see the golden tendrils of her hair a the crown of her head and trailing out below the mask.

Damen came up behind her. She was standing alone in a corner of the gardens with a goblet; as she set it on a table he could see it was filled with water. He placed one of his hands on each of her shoulders and moved in behind her, lowering his face to her neck.

“Hello,” he murmured. She started at him behind her, and turned toward him. He pulled her into his embrace as he leaned in to meet her lips.

And then he stopped, suddenly, because the body he had pulled against his own was not Jokaste. The person he had pulled close to him was lithe and slender, not rounded and curved.

Fringed eyelashes blinked open and Damen was confronted with a set of blue eyes above the slightly parted lips he’d just kissed.

Damen let his hands drop from the person’s shoulders. It was a man, Damen realized.

“I’m so sorry,” he said. “I thought you were someone else.”

The corner of the man’s mouth curved. His lips were pink and Damen thought about kissing them again.

Damen shook himself slightly and tried to remember that he was a prince on a diplomatic mission. “I need to tell you who I am,” he said, preparing to extend a hand in greeting and introduce himself.

“I know who you are, Damianos.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [reblog on tumblr!](http://josselinkohl.tumblr.com/post/153448669657/kiss-to-the-wrong-person-btw-love-your-writing)


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anonymous asked: 10. a shy kiss. Hit me right in the feels, please!
> 
> Okay, so this is more a ficlet of being shy about kissing than it is a shy kiss. However, if that hasn’t scared you off, continue behind the cut!

Laurent approached kissing differently than he approached sex, Damen observed.

Laurent had a tendency to approach sex as he did sports, with a thoughtful and studied determination, where he took his pleasure from proving to himself that he was able to meet the challenge. It was different from how Damen approached either activity, because it was cerebral rather than physical. Laurent could hold a conversation in the middle of a knife fight and he could do the same in bed, except that Damen was useless at keeping up his end of the conversation in either circumstance.

Kissing was different. Laurent did not like to be kissed in public, which Damen had at first assumed was prudence, or shyness, or an effort to set the tone for a more subdued Veretian court than had been in place under his uncle. This notion was dispelled for Damen one evening when they were in the theater and Laurent reached over and placed his hand in Damen’s lap, despite Damen casting several scandalized looks Laurent’s direction.

They spoke of it afterward when Laurent laughingly and not especially sincerely apologized for poking at Damen’s shy Akielon sensibilities.

“I thought—” said Damen. He reconsidered how to say what he was thinking. “You don’t like it when I kiss you in public.”

Laurent dismissed this with a wave of his hand. “That’s different,” he said.

To him it clearly was. As a young man, Damen wouldn’t have kissed a slave in public, but he had shown his affection in that manner to Jokaste or other ladies closer to his own rank that he courted. None of them would have dared to speak to him the way Laurent did, or to whisper in his ear as lewdly as Laurent did, or to touch him the way Laurent did.

So Damen saved savoring Laurent’s lips for when they were alone, and sometimes the slightest press of lips seemed shockingly intimate. Laurent responded to kissing more physically than he did to athletics or sex, and if Damen touched him gently with a brush of fingers along his skin or a light pressure on his hair, Laurent might tremble. His eyes would flicker closed.

Damen made a contest for himself of how long he could kiss Laurent without doing anything further. He waited until one evening when he was already tired and spent from one of Laurent’s coy and clever ideas, and then he pulled Laurent into his lap and began his experiment.

He had observed their first night together how much Laurent responded to gentleness, and this had not changed over time. Laurent curled in to the embrace and met the repeated press of Damen’s lips with a mewl of satisfaction. The touches reduced Laurent to saying things which did not make a great deal of sense, which Damen considered a victory. So he wrapped his arms around Laurent again, pulled Laurent a bit closer, and then kissed him again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [reblog on tumblr!](http://josselinkohl.tumblr.com/post/153515825932/10-a-shy-kiss-hit-me-right-in-the-feels-please)


	14. A question for Nikandros

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ok, so I am starting a new Nikandros pov fic. I have one word. but I was like, I think I wrote this before? So I dug through my unfinished drafts which are all unhelpfully named things like “fic” or “fic1″ or “thing” or “draft” (GET A BETTER SYSTEM, SELF) and I apparently have a whole Nikandros thing already, so uh. Here’s a thing!

Nikandros’s father had always told him that one of the things that made Akielos a better country than Vere was that a man who was born to nothing could still make a place for himself in the world.

In Vere, those who were born to wealth grew up in mansions dripping with jewels. When they went to war they placed peasants on the front line and stood behind them in armor that was sometimes equally dripping with jewels.

In Akielos, those who were born to wealth were still expected to prove themselves on the battlefield. And those who were born with nothing had an opportunity to distinguish themselves next to those who had been born with everything.

Nikandros’s father had made a name for himself that way. His father—Nikandros’s grandfather—had died of a fever in his youth, and when Nikandros’s father had come of age he’d caught the attention of one of the kyros’s generals by distinguishing himself in a sword fighting match. He’d joined the kyros’s troop and risen through the ranks to become a general himself.

When he had finally saved enough money to swear to Nikandros’s mother that he could keep her in the style to which she’d been accustomed as the daughter of a minor lord in Isthima, he started a family. Nikandros and his sisters had grown up in Ios while his father trained new troops for King Theomedes. When his father had the opportunity, he trained Nikandros, as well, and Nikandros tried to impress his father.

There had been another boy almost his age also training hard and trying to impress his father, and that was how the grandson of a woodcutter grew up next to the future king.

Nikandros’s father hadn’t lived to see Nikandros made the kyros of Delpha after it’s reclamation, so the proudest he had ever been of his son had been when Nikandros had been selected to serve at the Kingsmeet. It was the greatest honor for a young soldier to be selected—only the worthiest were chosen. Damen had been jealous, when Nikandros had been selected, and swore that he was going to follow Nikandros a year later when he was old enough. Damen had been an impressive enough fighter that he would have been able to earn a place in the trials, but he had not come. Nikandros had heard later that King Theomedes had forbidden it.

Damen had treated Nikandros as a brother. He had trained with him, and played with him, and helped him when he was sick and shared the favors and privileges of being a prince with Nikandros without ever mentioning it. When Nikandros’s sister had been sick, Damen had sent the palace physician to go and tend to her. Nikandros suspected that when King Theomedes had awarded him the position as kyros of Delpha after its capture that Damen’s advocacy had something to do with the honor. It was clear even by that point that he was Damen’s man, and that he would be one of the future king’s advisors. It was better for a king’s advisor to have his own land, Nikandros had heard the echo of his father’s voice as Theomedes gave him the pin. It meant that the advisors had reasons to prize the well being of the land aside from their love of it’s king.

But Nikandros had loved Damen anyway. And Damen had the same companionable ease and competitiveness with Nikandros that he had had with his actual brother Kastor.

Yet Nikandros had never forgotten their positions. He wasn’t a prince; he wasn’t actually Damen’s brother. He suspected that Kastor had never forgotten it either, and he had tried to tell as much to Damen.

Damen hadn’t listened. Damen had never been especially good at listening, though Nikandros had to credit the Veretian prince for having made Damen at least slightly more attentive to the counsel of others.

They were walking again in the orchards. The apricots were in season again and Nikandros’s thoughts naturally wandered to the past.

Damen’s thoughts seemed to be on the future.

“I would ask you for a favor, old friend.”

“Yes,” said Nikandros. He supposed that a prudent man would ask what the favor was before agreeing, but he had already proven he would give Damen anything.

“Stand next to me at my wedding?”

Nikandros was surprised, and stopped walking for a moment. Damen turned from a few steps ahead of him, and waited while Nikandros began strolling again and caught up to his position.

It was traditional for a man’s family to stand with him at his wedding. Men with large families would pack them all together to crowd them to the joining. Even cousins or more distant relations wanted to clap the groom on the shoulder and wish him good luck in his partnership.

So it wasn’t an honor that even an ambitious man such as Nikandros might have imagined for himself. If he had ever pictured a royal wedding, he supposed Theomedes and Kastor would have seen Damen off.

“But—it’s an honor for family,” said Nikandros.

Damen smiled. “You are my brother. I would be honored if you would stand with me.”

“Of course,” said Nikandros, inclining his head.

“Thank you,” said Damen, slinging an arm over Nikandros’s shoulders.

“Did you think I wouldn’t agree?”

“Well, you haven’t seen what Laurent expects us to wear, yet,” said Damen, chuckling.

Nikandros sighed. “Can you add some sort of embarrassing Akielon tradition to the ceremony, at least?”

“Oh, the Veretians have the edge on us in embarrassing traditions,” said Damen. “They—”

Nikandros looked over at him curiously, it almost sounded like he was blushing. Nikandros had heard far too many stories from Damen over the years, so it was hard to imagine what he would find that surprising.

“They expect royalty to consummate the marriage in front of the council,” said Damen, refusing to make eye contact.

Nikandros laughed, shocked. It was too crude to imagine. The idea of the king—with the whole council watching? Though the idea of that as a Veretian tradition did put something else that had puzzled him into context: “Is this why he asked me to join the council last week?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [reblog on tumblr!](http://josselinkohl.tumblr.com/post/155548249507/ok-so-i-am-starting-a-new-nikandros-pov-fic-i)


	15. Damen saying "I love you"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anonymous asked: Love your writing! If you're taking prompts - could you write Laurent freaking out when Damen says he loves him?

It was not the first night Damen had spent in the king’s chambers. They had formerly been his father’s rooms. Damen remembered his father’s last days in his sickbed, surrounded by physicians. The rooms were still filled with physicians, because the king’s chambers were where Laurent and Nikandros had arranged to have him taken to be tended, after they had managed to get a pallet to the slave baths.

It was different from when his father had been sick. The smell of illness had pervaded the room, then, and now the room smelled of Paschal’s cinnamon-scented salves. Damen was tended by the Akielon royal physicians as well as by Paschal, who had taken to wearing his traditional floppy hat and insisted that the salve he kept using would preserve Damen’s future ability to swing a sword.

When he said that, Damen just grinned at him. “You know me too well,” he said, in Veretian, letting the Akielon physicians frown, and he tried to be a cooperative patient.

He spent much of the time sleeping. Sometimes he woke and it was day, and there were physicians in the room, or a slave quietly playing a kithara. Sometimes he woke and it was night, and the room was quiet and dark. His men were guarding the door, and if he said anything they would enter to assist him, so he did not lack for anything, even if he was alone. But he liked best when he awoke in the night to find Laurent next to him, curled up with one hand outstretched toward Damen, where Damen could see the golden cuff still on his wrist.

It was hard to keep track of the exact number of days, and they blurred into a series of drinking broth, sleeping, listening to Laurent give quiet orders, sleeping, watching as Paschal rebandaged his wound, and sleeping yet again.

One night he woke in the middle of the night, but when he stirred sleepily and blinked his eyes open, there was a lit candle next to the bed. Laurent was there, turned away from the bed, pulling off his jacket and rotating his shoulder in the stiff manner he sometimes had when it pained him.

“Laurent,” Damen said. His voice sounded gruff from sleep, but Laurent turned.

“You’re awake.”

“Come here,” said Damen. “Let me help you.”

Laurent hesitated, probably wondering if Damen’s physicians felt that assisting Laurent with unlacing his vest was too strenuous, and then he moved toward the bed. Damen propped himself up on the bed with a pillow, and slowly undid the laces of Laurent’s vest with one hand. When the garment had fallen open, Laurent shrugged it off, rolling his shoulder once again.

Damen reached for Laurent then, and rested one hand on his shoulder over his fine linen shirt. He massaged the muscle slowly, watching Laurent closely for a reaction, trying to see where—and then he found the spot that pained Laurent, and he focused on it for a moment, trying to see if he could help to relieve the tension. Laurent sighed after a moment.

“Thank you,” said Laurent. “You should be resting.”

Laurent himself looked exhausted in the candlelight. “You should be resting,” said Damen.

Laurent nodded wearily. “There is so much to do.”

Laurent shed his pants, helped Damen readjust his pillow to recline a bit on the bed without straining his injured side, and then arranged himself on Damen’s other side.

“Come closer,” Damen said, trying to pull Laurent in to his embrace.

Laurent hesitated again. “I don’t want to hurt you,” he said.

“You can rest against my shoulder.”

Laurent moved cautiously a few inches closer on the bed, and rested his head gently against Damen’s shoulder. Damen stroked his head softly.

“I love you,” Damen said.

For a moment, Laurent said nothing, and Damen wondered if Laurent had already fallen asleep. Then, strangely enough, Laurent giggled.

Damen craned his head up to look and Laurent. Laurent raised his head as well, resting his chin on Damen’s shoulder to look him in the eye. “I should hope so,” said Laurent, smiling.

“What do you mean?” said Damen.

“If you did not,” said Laurent, “you have gone to a great deal of trouble to attempt to plead on my behalf.”

Damen frowned, feeling that Laurent was not taking this confession seriously enough. “I do,” he said.

Laurent was still smiling. “I know,” he said. “Go to sleep.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [reblog on tumblr!](http://josselinkohl.tumblr.com/post/155873610282/love-your-writing-if-youre-taking-prompts)


	16. Violent kiss after Kings Rising

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anonymous asked: How about a challenging one? 11 for Damen and Laurent, but post KR.
> 
> I’m still filling some prompts from the kiss meme…
> 
> 11\. A violent kiss

Damen had been angry when Laurent had suggested the plan, he’d been angry when Laurent hadn’t conceded that Damen’s objections were correct, he’d been furious when Jord had reported hesitantly that Laurent had proceeded with his plan despite Damen’s objections, and he was still so when his rescue was accomplished and he discovered Laurent in the dungeon.

Vorans had been wiser about keeping Laurent captive than many men might have, in that he’d had Laurent well guarded, and when Damen had dispensed with the guards and made it into Laurent’s cell, he found that Vorans also had Laurent chained to the wall, blindfolded, and gagged.

Laurent had clearly heard some of the commotion of Damen dispensing with the guards and of someone entering the cell, and Damen could see that he was tense, waiting, probably thinking. Damen himself was breathing heavy from the exertion of fighting his way into the castle, and he waited for a moment standing in the middle of the cell. He was not certain what he was waiting for. For his anger to subside, perhaps, now that Laurent was in front of him and seemingly unharmed? Laurent was still wearing the riding clothes he’d worn when Damen had last seen him several days prior, and he didn’t seem to have any injuries. His arms probably hurt because of the manacles holding his wrists to the wall above his head, but he was standing upright and attentively listening and he didn’t stand in way that indicated he was injured.

Damen felt a weight lift off of him now that Laurent was rescued, and yet he wasn’t any less angry than before.

He stepped forward across the cell. Laurent could hear his footsteps and tensed again. Damen stood close in front of him, close enough that if Laurent leaned forward in his chains they would be touching, close enough that Laurent could probably feel his body heat.

Damen sheathed his weapon at his waist to free his hands. Laurent could hear the slide of metal against the scabbard and tilted his head slightly. Damen reached up, then, to the blindfold pulled over Laurent’s eyes. Laurent flinched away from his touch, at first, and then Damen could see Laurent very deliberately hold himself still. 

Damen untied the black cloth and let it drop to the floor.

Laurent blinked, and Damen could see his eyes focusing as they were suddenly revealed to the torchlight of the dungeon again. He could see the moment that Laurent recognized him because of the slight widening of Laurent’s eyes followed by the relaxation of Laurent’s muscles, as he lost some of the tension in his body and sagged as close to Damen as the chains would permit, leaning some of his weight against Damen’s chest.

Damen was still angry. “I told you that this was a bad idea.”

Laurent couldn’t argue with him, because his mouth was still filled with the gag that Vorans had used, but Laurent was eloquent enough with his eyebrows that Damen understood his point, and raised his hands again to untie the second piece of cloth and pull it away from Laurent’s mouth.

Laurent coughed, swallowed, and coughed again. Damen waited as he caught his breath, and then he stepped in, using the bulk of his body to push Laurent back up against the stone wall of the dungeon.

“Did you kill Vorans?” said Laurent.

Damen gritted his teeth. “Yes.”

“Then the plan worked—”

Damen placed one hand on either side of Laurent’s head, pressing Laurent against the wall. “This was a bad plan.”

“It work—”

Laurent did not have a chance to finish his protests, because Damen leaned in and took his mouth possessively.

The kiss was a violent mashing of their mouths together, as Damen used it to communicate his worry and his frustration and Laurent refused to subside.

Damen leaned his forehead against Laurent’s and tried to catch his breath.

“Are you going to release me?” said Laurent, rattling his chains in emphasis.

“I’m still thinking about it,” said Damen.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [reblog on tumblr!](http://josselinkohl.tumblr.com/post/155913967417/how-about-a-challenging-one-11-for-damen-and)


	17. Laurent time travels AU

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So what I’m thinking about today is time travel.

On the third day at the summer palace, Laurent accidentally steps into some kind of fairy ring or something, and suddenly he doesn’t know what’s going on. No one’s there. Not Damen, not either of their servants. The ruins are deserted. Laurent finds a peasant and asks after the king only to have the peasant start talking about Theomedes. 

The peasant fetches some neighbors, and someone fetches one of the local constabulary, and it becomes clear to Laurent that he’s not where he thought. He keeps asking after the king, and finally changes to ask after Prince Damianos. The constable eyes him skeptically, and finally the Akielons kind of decide he’s one of the prince’s slaves and he’s either lost or trying to escape. “He has the coloring.”

Laurent encourages this belief since it seems promising as a method to get them to take him to Damen, and they do. 

He’s taken in a cart back to Ios since no one will let him ride a horse. He’s cold and he tries to interrogate the cart driver without behaving too alarmingly unlike a palace slave.

He’s finally at the palace – he’s thrilled to see Ios on the cliff, and what a strange thought that is – and he sees three banners showing the royalty in residence. Theomedes, Damianos, Kastor. Laurent is given a moment of privacy in the slave baths to make himself presentable before he’s returned to the prince, and it’s almost like it’s a different place all filled with steam and with shy Akielon slaves watching him quietly. 

Theomedes and Kastor seem unconcerned at the constable triumphantly proclaiming that they’ve found and returned Damen’s lost slave. The slave master is frowning, and seems about to object, and Damen is also looking a bit surprised. Laurent feels the secret hope he’d had inside of Damen recognizing him extinguish. This is not HIS Damen. But this is still Damen; Laurent still knows him even if Damen does not know Laurent, and it is one known thing when the entire world has gone topsy-turvy. So Laurent throws himself to his knees at Damen’s feet, and says, “Exalted,” with as much feeling as he can possibly put into it, and convinces Damen to speak with him alone. 

***

Laurent gets Damen to take him to Damen’s rooms. The rooms aren’t ones Laurent recognizes. He supposes Theomedes is still occupying the king’s chambers in Ios. They’re alone. Laurent has no idea what he is trying to do here, but Damen seems to expect him to say something. To offer some kind of explanation why he has shown up as a new slave and begged Damen to take him to his rooms.

Laurent’s stomach growls. “I haven’t eaten in two days,” he offers, and Damen seems to accept hunger as an explanation for why one might beg the pleasure of being a slave to the prince. Damen sends someone for a plate of food and he kind of regards Laurent while they wait. Laurent regards Damen back, which Damen seems to find amusing.

The Akielon palace food seems more familiar than Damen is. Laurent eats it while still eyeing Damen warily. The last time that Laurent ate had been with Damen also, back in the summer palace. Damen had fed him pieces of fruit and laughed as the juice dripped all over their skin.

Damen settles himself on a cushion near to where Laurent is sitting and eating. Laurent offers him a bite of bread. He thinks of it in his own mind as feeding a pet, though he knows that in Akielos it is typical for a slave to feed the master. Damen accepts the bite of food naturally enough, and he parts his lips again agreeably when Laurent held out another morsel. 

Laurent is so uncertain of everything that he’s not thinking ahead the way he usually does. He doesn’t know what comes beyond this moment, except that he’s finally full and now suddenly exhausted. And Damen is there but not there.

Damen is intrigued by this new slave. He would remember this one, and none of his slaves would be so badly treated that they wouldn’t eat for two days. 

It’s not Damen’s habit to sleep with his slaves. He takes them to bed for play, but then they know to retire quietly afterward to the slave quarters, leaving the prince to sleep by himself. But this one is new, and doesn’t know his preferences like the others. And so when his eyes start to droop after he eats Damen permits him to curl up around another pillow and sleep. He’s even more beautiful asleep, though Damen would not have even thought that was possible. 

He curls up to Damen while he is sleeping, resting against Damen’s chest. And this type of clinging has never been Damen’s preference either, and yet he finds he likes it, and he permits it. 

In the morning, the slave makes a sleepy noise. “Mon petit chou” the slave murmurs, inexplicably speaking Veretian. The slave smiles shyly in his sleep and something in Damen’s chest twists. 

“Wake up” says Damen, assuming the slave thinks he is someone else. Some past master. 

The slave blinks his eyes open. 

“I’m not who you were talking to in your sleep. We haven’t met before.”

The slave regards him evenly. “We have.”

“I would remember.”

“I remember.”

“When?” says Damen. 

“At Marlas.”

Damen turns his mind back to all of the slaves that had been with them near the front. 

“In the fighting,” says the slave. 

“You’re not a fighter,” says Damen.

The slave just raises an eyebrow.

Damen rolls across the bed and ends up on top of the slave. “Why is one who was too young to fight at Marlas here in my bed now?”

The slave seems not at all discomfited by Damen being on top of him, and smiles. “I suppose you are very lucky.”

***

“I suppose because you are ridiculously lucky,” Laurent says.

Damen laughs, and it sounds so much like his Damen’s laugh that Laurent laughs, and that causes Damen to smile at him, and Laurent smiles back and reaches up to touch Damen’s hair. 

Laurent can tell a moment before it happens that Damen is going to lean in to kiss him, and he closes his eyes and waits, because he misses his Damen so much and he wants so desperately to pretend that this is him. 

He’s thinking too much. He always thinks too much. He’s reasoning to himself about how this is Damen and yet it isn’t Damen. He’s thinking about how he got here and how he could get back. He’s thinking about if he should tell this Damen the truth. He’s thinking about his Damen. Is Laurent missing there? They would have sent out the entire guard looking for him, and Damen would never know what had really happened.

If there is anything that takes Laurent out of his own head, it’s being in bed with Damen, and there is nothing more than Laurent wants right now than to be out of his head. 

It works in fits and starts. He can pretend for a moment that he is somewhere else, with someone else, and Damen smells the same and his body feels the same.

But Laurent’s fantasy is interrupted in fits and starts. Usually whenever Damen tries to say anything. “You are quite bold,” says Damen. “Where were you trained?”

“Let’s not talk,” says Laurent, and Damen laughs at this presumptuousness from a slave.

***

Even after Laurent has sworn he is never going to be surprised again – tripping and ending up three years in the past has changed him – he is surprised. Damen has spent the last few months convincing Laurent slowly to listen to his heart more than his head, and Laurent feels now that he’s been thrown back to his teenage years and his desperate attempts to shut down his emotions completely and think himself out of a cage.

Small things surprise him. Encountering Kastor in the hallway. Encountering Nikandros in the hallway and receiving no sort of expression whatsoever. He apparently no longer even merits Nikandros’s suspicion or disapproval. The slave master has him take a plate of fruit to Damen in the garden and he comes up to Damen dallying with another slave, a woman slave. Laurent stops, suddenly. He almost drops the plate, and then he turns around and leaves while still holding the plate. Damen spots him as he’s retreating and Laurent ignores his question.

He speaks to himself harshly, afterward. He knows Damen had slaves; he knows most of them were women. He’s seen Damen with women before. It’s not even like Damen and the woman were doing anything. She was playing with a small harp and smiling and Damen was relaxed and listening and looking at her.

Laurent tricks the slave master into sending him to Damen that evening. Trickery is not even difficult; it’s apparently beyond Adrastus’s comprehension that a slave would flat out lie about something the prince has said. Laurent gambles that Damen will not turn him away nor reveal him to Adrastus, and Laurent is correct. Damen seems mildly amused by Laurent’s appearance in his rooms and lets Laurent undress him without comment. 

But Laurent wants to comment. He wants to talk to Damen. He wants to tell Damen about what happened to him today, to turn his thoughts over by voicing them aloud, to hear Damen’s advice. He searches for something innocuous to say just to hear Damen’s voice. “I became lost on the way to the library today,” he offers, which is the start of a possibly humorous story about something he observed between Nikandros and one of the librarians.

He does not manage to finish the story, because Damen says, “Why would you be in the library? Do you read?” and Laurent clamps his mouth shut. He’s almost as terrible as being a slave as Damen was.

He’s angry at Damen, suddenly. He’s angry that Damen is letting his traitorous brother wander around the palace freely while Damen lounges around eating grapes in the garden. And why has Damen not asked more questions about his own appearance? He seems to regard Laurent with interest and mild curiosity only. If Laurent’s teenage self had only known how easy it would have been to get close enough to kill Damen, he could have spent far less time on sword work and simply make sure to wear his hair loose.

***

Laurent wakes up.

He’s breathing heavily and sweating and he sits up in bed, uncertain for a moment of where he is. He doesn’t recognize the room for a minute. Damen is next to him, and suddenly the pieces are fitting together – the summer palace. He’d missed Damen arrive when he’d been watching the wrong road.

Damen stirs next to him. Damen sits up slowly. He has a concerned expression. “Are you ill?”

Laurent shakes his head. “It was only a nightmare.”

Damen nods, sitting up the rest of the way. He seems to be carefully holding himself back from touching Laurent. “What was it about?” says Damen.

Laurent supposes that Damen is imagining all sorts of things Laurent might have a nightmare about. Auguste’s death, which they had been talking about recently. His uncle. 

“I dreamed I went back in time–”

Damen’s expression remains cautious. He is expecting something about Laurent’s family still.

“–and I met past you.”

Damen is still very poor at hiding his surprise. “Past me?” He seems to be going to some effort to keep his voice even.

Laurent nods. The dream still feels so close. How alone he felt in the darkness there, how desperately he’d tried to compete for Damen’s attention, how much he had wanted to cry curled up next to Damen who smelled right but didn’t act right.

“Did something bad happen, in the dream?” Damen is trying to understand.

The past still feels close in Laurent’s head. “You kept me as a slave and I fed you peaches and you touched my hair.”

Damen looks surprised, then visibly searches for words. “Was dream-me not considerate?” He seems to be trying to be delicate.

Laurent shakes his head again. “That was not the problem.”

“I would not like to think of mistreating you. But I know I was not always–”

Laurent cuts him off. “You did not mistreat me.” Damen does not seem to entirely believe him. Past of a different sort seems close to Laurent now, the past that always lingers heavy between them, so Laurent says, “I mistreated you.”

Damen shrugs, as if that is not important.

“You didn’t–know me.” Laurent tries to explain. “I missed you.”

This pleases Damen. He reaches for Laurent across the bedsheets, holding out a hand and waiting to see if Laurent will take it. 

Laurent does, resting his hand in Damen’s. Damen closes his hand around it warmly and then tugs Laurent gently across the bed to rest against him. 

“We are together now,” says Damen.

“Yes,” says Laurent, but he’s still afraid of the feeling in the dream. “I wasn’t supposed to sleep in your rooms. And you had other slaves, and–” part of him is still fighting the feeling in the dream that he must bite his tongue and not be caught out.

Laurent swallows hard and tries to bring himself under control. He doesn’t know if he wants to speak of the dream any longer. He wants it to fade away. “Also you had a terrible haircut.”

Damen laughs, which was what Laurent intended. Laurent shifts in Damen’s embrace, wondering if he can convince Damen to have sex. He runs a hand along Damen’s chest suggestively.

Damen moves closer to him and tips his head up to take his lips. Laurent leans into the kiss eagerly, wanting to be distracted.

Later, sufficiently distracted, Laurent relaxes against Damen again. The dream feels further away. He’s sure that the Damen he is resting against is his Damen, and he’s feeling mischievous rather than afraid, so: “Past you had better stamina.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [post 1 on tumblr](http://josselinkohl.tumblr.com/post/157761470512/so-what-im-thinking-about-today-is-time-travel), [post 2 on tumblr](http://josselinkohl.tumblr.com/post/157804518652/im-still-thinking-about-the-idea-from-yesterday), [post 3 on tumblr](http://josselinkohl.tumblr.com/post/157820657757/more-on-the-same-theme-i-suppose-because-you-are), [post 4 on tumblr](http://josselinkohl.tumblr.com/post/157989781342/even-after-laurent-has-sworn-he-is-never-going-to), [post 5 on tumblr](http://josselinkohl.tumblr.com/post/158149329207/other-people-joss-how-does-the-time-travel-au)


	18. Temporary tattoo

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I’m procrastinating on my homework so naturally: MODERN AU

Damen puts a temporary tattoo on Laurent’s ass while he’s sleeping. 

Laurent wakes up while this is happening and is like what? and runs off to the bathroom to try to crane around and see what it is. Damen is laughing helplessly.

Laurent: spank me? 

Damen: It’s just temporary.

Laurent: is this your idea of asking for something?

Damen: it’s just a joke, don’t be mad.

Laurent: a joke? but you’ve never stuck a sticker on my ass before.

Then a few days later, Laurent forgets about this and he’s trying on his tux for Auguste’s wedding and changes in front of his brother.

Auguste: Did you get a tattoo?

***

OR,

Laurent drinks too much at Auguste’s bachelor party, Auguste laughs and sticks it on his brother and Laurent can’t even tell what it says. Damen takes poor drunk Laurent back home later and in the morning Damen is like “did you get a tattoo?”

***

Post bachelor party. 

Damen: why does your ass say ‘spank me?’

Laurent, asleep and hungover: what.

Damen: Your ass says spank me on it.

Laurent: it doesn’t.

Damen has gotten out his phone and is taking a picture.

Laurent: what are you – hey, give me that.

Laurent trying to get Damen’s phone turns into wrestling on the bed. Playfully, Damen slaps Laurent’s ass. Laurent gasps.

Damen: it says to!

Laurent: stop it.

They have a safe word and ‘stop’ isn’t it, so naturally Damen does it again…

***

Poor Laurent has to attend his brother’s wedding with a sore ass. Auguste catches him standing at the reception and laughs at him mercilessly. 

Laurent: I’m going to get back at you.

Auguste: Sure. If you ever actually agree to marry Damen then I’ll probably end up with an actual tattoo after your bachelor party.

Laurent just glares at him.

Later, through a fluke, Laurent ends up catching the bouquet and Auguste laughs at him some more.

Damen notices that Laurent seems distant much of the evening. He assume it’s all still related to earlier. When they’re home, he tries to talk to Laurent about it. “hey, I’m sorry about–”

Laurent: did you mean it, when you asked me to marry you?

Damen is really confused because this is not the conversation he thought they were having: of course.

Laurent: you were serious?

Damen: completely.

Laurent: then yes.

Damen is overjoyed. Their enthusiastic making out slowly makes it to the bedroom, where of course Laurent still has the temporary tattoo…

***

A little over a year later, Damen and Laurent are celebrating their first anniversary. Damen is being all sweet and he brings Laurent flowers and feeds him chocolates. Then Damen suggests moving to the bedroom. 

Laurent agrees, but before they get up, Damen says, “I thought, for our anniversary, that I could –”

Laurent has a dozen ideas of what Damen is about to say, but none of them are what he actually does say.

“–spank you.”

Laurent: What?

Damen: “Spank you.”

Laurent is still flabbergasted.

Damen: Because it’s why we got together.

Laurent: it is not!

Damen: you wouldn’t agree to marry me and then I spanked you and then you did agree?

Laurent: that is not how it went!

Damen seems a little subdued. “Oh then I guess you are not going to like your present.”

Laurent narrows his eyes. “What is it?”

Damen: nevermind.

Laurent: tell me what it is….

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [the original thread on tumblr](http://josselinkohl.tumblr.com/post/158564874217/josselinkohl-josselinkohl-josselinkohl)


	19. Chapter 19

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anonymous asked: from Prince's Gambit... after Damen kills a man throwing a sword... what was Laurent really doing that took so long? *wink* and... perhaps Damen goes to look for him?

Laurent saw to the horses. Damen saw to the fire. Damen was aware that Laurent was taking more time with the horses than was necessary or usual. He ignored it. He built the fire. He cleared the earth, gathered fallen branches and broke them down to the correct size. And then sat down beside it and said nothing.

Laurent did not reappear. Damen wondered, suddenly, if there had been another man hidden among the short trees and bushes, and he rose from his place near the fire. 

He saw Laurent’s boots on the other side of his horse before he saw Laurent fully, but he was relaxing even at the sight of Laurent next to the horse. Laurent was brushing her, he saw, leaning in close to her as he moved. Laurent was still wet, Damen observed, and he had to be uncomfortable in layers of soaking linen and heavy leather.

Laurent saw him. There was something new in Laurent’s face. Laurent leaned in to the horse slightly. Half of his face was obscured, but his expression still seemed strange.

Damen felt compelled to offer an explanation. “I worried that–”

“That you might need to throw a sword again?”

A moment of silence drew out between them. Laurent took a reluctant step away from the horse. He shivered.

“I built up the fire,” Damen said. “You can dry off.”

Laurent took another step toward Damen. He was still holding the brush. Laurent opened his mouth and then closed it again. He seemed to be struggling to say something. “I don’t understand how you are here.”

Damen raised an eyebrow.

“How did Kastor get you in chains and on a ship to Vere? How did you manage to convince all of my men to follow your orders as easily as they follow mine? How did you convince me to take you along with me–”

Laurent was still shivering. Damen was not entirely certain that this was completely attributable to the chill.

“Come to the fire–”

“Everything about you is a mystery to me,” said Laurent. “You’re confounding and ridiculous and–”

Laurent took another step in Damen’s direction. They were close enough now that Damen could have reached out and touched Laurent. Laurent was still faintly shaking. 

“Why are you doing this to me?” said Laurent.

Damen felt trapped in place. Laurent took a final step closer, Damen could feel the press of his body, his wet clothes. Laurent’s body had tension in it. This close, Laurent’s shivering felt like tightly controlled vibrations, as though he were the pulled string of a notched arrow.

Damen raised a hand to Laurent’s shoulder, and rested it there hesitantly, feeling the damp wool of his jacket.

“Laurent,” Damen said.

Laurent’s pulse was fluttering in his throat. His eyes were very blue. 

“Why?” said Laurent. “Why do you do this–”

And Damen leaned in to kiss him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [on tumblr](http://josselinkohl.tumblr.com/post/160101787237/from-princes-gambit-after-damen-kills-a-man)


	20. Chapter 20

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There were a lot of infuriating things about Damen.

Laurent made a point to sit up straight on the low bench he and Damen had been seated on and to keep his gaze politely on the singer.

No one would have blinked if he hadn’t. If Laurent had leaned into Damen’s side or rested slightly against his leg, none of the Patrans would have objected or been offended, and Damen himself would likely only have rested a warm hand on Laurent’s side in response. Torgeir’s wife was curled against his side on a separate low bench. Torgeir’s daughter Lisabeta was similarly leaning into her lover. 

It was only Laurent’s own pride keeping him sitting carefully separate and upright; his ongoing battle (fought primarily in his own head) to refuse to be seen as Damen’s paramour and to insist on being seen as the King of Vere in his own right. He had probably half lost the battle already when he’d agreed to be seated on the same bench as Damen like all of the other couples, and he’d definitely lost a second half of the battle when he had let one of the servants pour him a second cup of the fortified Patran wine. 

Torveld had told Laurent something of how they made it, when he’d showed Laurent one of the caves with the casks earlier in their visit, but the key was that it was much stronger than the wine traditionally served in Vere or in Akielos. Laurent could feel it going to his head. Infuriatingly, Damen had drank twice as much and showed no effects whatsoever. 

The singer was a Patran woman. Laurent did not know if she was a slave and he hadn’t asked. She had dark hair and eyes and a beautiful clear voice. Laurent’s Patran was serviceable enough if his purpose was to flirt with Torveld at a dinner party, but the woman’s song was sung in an old style and Laurent could only understand one word in ten. It was not enough to be able to follow the narrative. He thought perhaps it was a love ballad from the occasional word he could understand – passion, lovers, remembrance – but it was hard to say. Also infuriatingly, Damen’s Patran was much better than Laurent’s and he probably knew exactly what the singer was performing. Damen had the gall to be seemingly effortlessly much better at languages than Laurent was, and even when Damen didn’t know how to say something he seemed to find effortless elegant ways to explain what he meant with other words, while Laurent had to go to elaborate lengths in his head to steer conversations only in directions where his vocabulary felt sufficient. Damen didn’t know any of the Patran words for the production of fortified wine when they started their tour of the caves, but by the end of the tour he was speaking easily with Torveld about the characteristics of the color as though he had known that language his whole life. 

There were a lot of infuriating things about Damen. In addition to his alcohol tolerance and his linguistic ability, Damen was growing a beard. It was hideous; Laurent hated it. Damen insisted it was traditional for Akielon royalty to wear a beard, and that in fact Torgeir would expect it for their visit, and Damen had had the gall to be right about that also. Torgeir had remarked on Damen’s beard particularly when they met, saying it made Damen look like his father.

Laurent’s irritation had made him a bit petulant, so he was not kind when Damen and Torveld were reintroducing themselves after their last meeting.

“I am sorry I could not tell you who I was,” said Damen.

Torveld opened his mouth, probably to assure Damen that this was fine. 

“He knew anyway,” said Laurent.

“What?” said Damen, as though his ability to disguise himself were actually convincing.

“I only suspected,” said Torveld politically.

Laurent still felt petulant. “You commented to me on the resemblance of my slave to the Akielon royal house.”

Damen was already smiling. “It is good to see you again nonetheless,” he told Torveld, and they were soon laughing together. 

The woman’s song ended, and she curtseyed gracefully to a smattering of applause from the assembled nobility. Torgeir asked her for another song, and she agreed, swaying slightly as the musicians began the next introduction.

“Are you tired,” said Damen, under his breath.

“I am only sick of love songs,” said Laurent.

Damen smiled at him. “You can’t understand old Patran?”

It was apparently not a love song. Laurent decided to bluff. “I can.”

“The song was about wine,” said Damen. “And how it turns all men’s hearts to be fickle.”

“I love wine,” said Laurent.

“If you have more you will need help standing up later,” said Damen.

“I’m sure you will help me,” said Laurent feeling petulant and annoyed again for no good reason.

“Of course,” said Damen, infuriatingly kind even in the face of Laurent’s bad mood. Laurent sighed, and leaned slightly to rest against Damen’s shoulder. Damen wrapped an arm around him and settled him in comfortably. Damen was humming a little bit along with the new song the singer had started. Infuriatingly, Damen was probably also a good singer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [Reblog on tumblr!](http://josselinkohl.tumblr.com/post/160817248707/laurent-made-a-point-to-sit-up-straight-on-the-low)


	21. The Angsty Ten Year Reunion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> My idea is a really heartrending fic where Damen and Laurent are trying to rule their kingdoms and just like…can’t make it work and it bleeds into their personal lives and they eventually give up. And then they end up meeting again at some international event ten years later. (All of the parts from the various tumblr posts combined here.)

hello tumblr. I should be editing my bang fic so naturally I am daydreaming about angsty Captive Prince headcanons.

My idea is a really heartrending fic where Damen and Laurent are trying to rule their kingdoms and just like…can’t make it work and it bleeds into their personal lives and they eventually give up. And then they end up meeting again at some international event ten years later.

Imagine Damen riding past the half-constructed palace at Marlas on his way to this international thing. His son is like asking about the architecture or whatever and Damen is so tied up inside about it he can’t really even answer.

Meanwhile Laurent has now spent a lifetime living up to the cast iron bitch reputation, and he has an ageless quality. He doesn’t have any children and half of Vere is terrified what happens when he dies and the other half is convinced he’s immortal and will live forever.

Laurent left Damen at Marlas when Leon was four, so Leon only remembers him a little bit. Leon remembers that Laurent was fair-haired, and other than that Leon basically only knows that Nikandros told him that Laurent was very smart but not very honorable. Leon is a little bit worried that Laurent doesn’t like him. He has a child’s concern that he was part of why Laurent left.

In my head Damen is very fair to Laurent and defensive of him also, so he corrects Leon and says that Laurent was very honorable but Nikandros just didn’t like him much, and he reassures Leon that Laurent loved him very much but that Leon had nothing to do with why he left. 

Leon asks why Laurent did leave, and Damen doesn’t answer.

Unbeknownst to Damen or Leon, Leon is actually Laurent’s heir. Laurent in fact has spies in the Akielon court solely for the purpose of reporting back to him on Leon and Damen’s other children. His spies think Laurent is especially vicious, keeping tabs on his enemy’s children. What a cruel way to plan revenge. But of course Laurent is not planning anything like that. He just reads his spies’s missives alone in his chambers while he drinks. He’s acquired a tolerance.

They’re at this international gathering. Laurent is cold and perfectly polite but shuttered. Damen is sad because he was hoping maybe Laurent missed him even just a little bit. Laurent is not very warm to Leon either. He’s polite, but Damen was hoping Leon would get a warmer reception. Leon himself is also a bit cold toward Laurent, uncertain. They’re making it through the festival and Leon and Eric of Patras are having a grand time (they’re the same age). 

Then one night Laurent sneaks into Damen’s tent. He’s holding a bottle. The bottle is not full but Laurent doesn’t seem drunk, Damen observes he must have worked on his tolerance. Damen is like, half braced for this argument and half relieved, because even if they have big drunken argument it at least is better than Laurent pretending he doesn’t feel anything.

And Laurent is like, “In ten years, I haven’t been even remotely tempted to have sex with anyone, and then you show up and wrestle with your shirt off and-–” He stops to drink from the bottle again.

Damen blinks because this was not what he was expecting. Damen is kind of annoyed because he thought they were going to fight and Laurent is showing up talking about sex?

And Damen is like “I’m not going to have sex with you.”

Laurent is eyeing Damen’s skirt and says “I think you will.”

Spoilers: Laurent is right.

Afterward, Laurent slithers out of bed to try to escape. Damen says, “Of course, running away, that’s all you’re good at.” Laurent looks at him for a long moment in the darkness and Damen almost takes it back. But he doesn’t and then Laurent leaves.

Damen is still feeling sort of annoyed the next morning so he finds Nikandros and he’s like “let’s practice wrestling”. He’s hoping Laurent is watching. He’s not sure if he is, but he suspects. Leon comes along and wants to practice wrestling also, so Damen is distracted from his shirtless performance by teaching his son, and Damen’s younger son Euandros was trailing along after Leon (Leon is fourteen and Euandros is six, Damen’s youngest) and Euandros doesn’t want to be left out either so all three of them end up practicing wrestling. 

Of course Laurent is watching, hidden away. He can’t tear his eyes away from Damen playing with his sons. He hasn’t been fucked in ten years and he can still feel it as he’s watching them and he hasn’t felt this many emotions in ten years either and he doesn’t like it. Damen has to go off to attend to the business of being king. Leon and Euandros agree to go off to practice with wooden swords. Laurent finds himself following. 

At the sword ring, Laurent comes out of hiding and just stands at the edge of the ring. 

Leon recognizes Laurent and is a bit hesitant around him. Some part of him still feels rejected by Laurent. But Euandros has no such background and happily goes up to Laurent and says, “Will you practice with me?”

And Leon puts a hand on his shoulder and is like, “Andy, this isn’t a good idea-–”

But Laurent says “Yes,” and he’s climbing into the ring and Andy is very excited and Leon doesn’t know what to do and Nikandros is nearby and so Leon runs off to get him and is like “Andy’s fighting with the king of Vere!” and so Nikandros also comes running and they two of them are nervously watching Laurent and Andy together. 

Laurent is so kind to Andy. He praises Andy’s form and is patient with his technique and gives him wonderful suggestions on his footwork. Laurent ignores the two of them and Andy just beams in their direction like this was the best idea ever.

Later they are going to eat lunch. Euandros runs up to Damen all excited and Damen picks him up and carries him. Andy is only 6 and is bubbling over with stories about his day. Damen is half-listening to Andy and half listening to his steward’s briefing about lunch. Then Andy says “and then I asked the king to sword fight with me” and suddenly Andy has Damen’s full attention.

Damen hears the story of Andy fighting with Laurent from Andy, from Leon, and from Nikandros. Damen is the least worried of anyone about this. He is like, of course Laurent would be kind to Euandros. Damen’s daughters are 9 and 7 and named Eradne and Aratia. 

That evening Damen goes back to his tent and he’s kind of waiting. He suspects that Laurent will show up again.

Laurent does. He isn’t carrying a bottle this time. Damen is pleased. He thought this would happen. Laurent tries to say something and Damen puts a finger on his lips and says, “let’s not talk”.

Then Damen proceeds to take Laurent apart. He undresses Laurent, touches him gently, brushes fingers through his hair, draws his mouth along Laurent’s skin and any time Laurent starts to try to say something Damen is like “shh." 

Damen is pretending in his head like the last ten years didn’t happen, maybe. Or he’s trying to win Laurent back with the most amazing sex ever. He can’t even decide in his own mind what he’s doing, but he’s sick of thinking so much, he just wants to feel this.

***

Laurent is so overcome that he falls asleep in Damen’s tent. He doesn’t mean to but it happens. Then in the morning he’s sneaking out and Nikandros sees him and Nikandros is very unhappy. 

Laurent says something dismissive that implies he’s just using Damen for sex and there aren’t any emotions involved, and Damen overhears and is sad. And also Nikandros is still angry. Laurent leaves, and Nikandros yells at Damen a bit until Damen is saved by Euandros and Eradne coming to find their father.

The day is filled with festival events. Ceremonies and music in the marketplace and sports. Leon corners Damen and tries again to get Damen to tell him about why Laurent left, and Damen brushes off the question.

Aratia loves dancing and in the afternoon there’s a contest and she wins a prize. Damen raises her up to ride on his shoulders, and she holds up her prize ribbon triumphantly. She tells Damen to dance with her and he does and the two of them are laughing but Damen is not a wonderful dancer though he is earnestly trying to follow Aratia’s instructions about where he should step and when he should lift her. 

Laurent sits in his pavilion and watches, holding a goblet and looking untouchable. Damen doesn’t look at him. 

Leon becomes bold and in the evening, when dessert is being served and everything is torchlight, Leon goes to the Veretian pavilion. He half expects to be stopped by the guards, but they nod at him respectfully, murmuring his title. There are other chairs, in the Veretian pavilion, but Laurent is sitting alone. Laurent is watching Leon’s approach, sipping from his goblet. Leon waits for him to say something, hesitating at the top step. 

Laurent says nothing, so Leon keeps going and sits down in one of the other chairs. 

Laurent still says nothing. Leon takes a nervous breath. “King Laurent-–” he isn’t quite sure how to frame his question, so he hesitates.

“Prince Leon,” says Laurent. Leon can’t quite tell if Laurent is mocking him.

“I wanted to ask you something,” says Leon. He has to ask it now, because any moment now Nikandros or Damen or someone is going to spot that he’s gone off to the Veretian tent, and while they might not drag him out, specifically, they are likely to come over and interrupt the conversation.

Laurent makes a little “go ahead” gesture with his goblet.

“It’s about my father,” says Leon. Laurent raises an eyebrow. “Why did you leave him?”

***

_Anonymous asked: Wait wait wait, is Damen married? Is he cheating on his wife? Where do all his kids come from?_

This is an excellent question for an interlude while we all linger in suspense on what Laurent will say to Leon.

I will relieve your minds by telling you that Damen is not married.

Rather deliberately not married, in fact. After Laurent left, the Akielon court tiptoed around for a few months before beginning a campaign aimed at marrying off the king. Damen was frustrated and thoroughly uninterested. He argued with Nikandros about it for a long time, for months.

Damen’s argument was basically that he was never marrying again with a tiny flavor of not wanting to have legitimate children who might have introduced a complicated dynamic with Leon, who he intended to be his heir. Damen tells Nikandros that he doesn’t think he has anything to offer a spouse, emotionally. “My heart is already spoken for,” he confesses to Nikandros drunkenly one evening.

Nikandros’s arguments were more varied. He doesn’t think this emotional hurt on Damen’s part rules out marriage or other lovers. But Damen abolished slavery and refuses to sleep with former slaves who have set themselves up as courtesans. He won’t entertain a political marriage with the Empire or with a kyros’s daughter. Nikandros is finally like, just take a mistress. Find someone who understands that you do not wish a deep emotional relationship but who can satisfy your desire for sex and give you more children. Nikandros plays hard on the children part, because Leon is obviously the light of Damen’s life.

When Damen does finally take a mistress, Nikandros regrets ever saying anything. 

Because who does Damen actually set up as his mistress? 

Jokaste.

Nikandros lectures Damen for a long time. He’s lost his senses. Why would he invite her back to the capital. Doesn’t he remember what she did to him?

Damen: I remember.

In fact, Damen invited her because he remembers. He tells Nikandros that he was already betrayed by Jokaste, and that because of that, he will not become emotionally attached to her a second time. She understands that he is not interested in an emotional entanglement, but she wants to come back to court and she wants to see Leon and the position of king’s mistress appeals to her. 

Nikandros still thinks this is a horrible idea. He’s like, “what about when she starts sleeping with someone else behind your back?”

Damen says he doesn’t care. He’s already told Jokaste he doesn’t care who else she takes to her bed.

Nikandros loses some hair over this, but it actually seems to work out okay. 

Damen and Jokaste aren’t in love. In public they are respectful to each other but not especially close or affectionate. Nikandros doesn’t know what happens behind the closed doors of their bedroom but Damen seems more settled with Jokaste in court, setting women’s fashions that proudly show off her pregnant belly.

The servants know that the king and his mistress sleep apart more frequently than they do together, especially after their youngest was born. They live mostly solitarily after Euandros was born. But Damen loves his children and Jokaste stays discrete with her other lovers and they find a dynamic that makes it work. 

***

“It’s about my father,” says Leon. Laurent raises an eyebrow. “Why did you leave him?”

Laurent sips from his goblet before he says anything. Leon waits, poised on the edge of his chair.

“I was a coward,” Laurent says.

Leon frowns. “What do you mean?”

“It was hard, running a kingdom recently at war. And harder still to try to join two kingdoms together that had long been enemies. There was little time for anything else, and Damianos and I fought more than either of us expected that we would, and then saw each other less often than we hoped, and then I began to fear that at some point he would tire of it and leave me, and I couldn’t let that happen.”

Leon notes that Laurent calls his father Damianos, which no one else does. Everyone in Akielos calls him either exalted or is close enough to call him Damen. 

Leon shakes his head. “I don’t understand. You were afraid of leaving so you left.”

Laurent nods. 

Leon: “That seems stupid.”

Laurent laughs, without much true humor. “Yes, perhaps so.”

Leon frowns. “Nikandros said you were very smart.”

Laurent laughs more genuinely now. “Nikandros said that? Did he look like he was eating a lemon as he said it?”

Leon is thinking that Nikandros _had_ looked kind of sour throughout the whole conversation where Leon attempted to learn about Laurent. 

“But–-” Leon says. “Father misses you.”

Laurent looks at Leon. “I miss him. I miss you.”

Leon frowns. “So why–-”

“Leon!” Nikandros’s voice interrupts them, walking up to the Veretian pavilion. 

Laurent doesn’t get up to greet Nikandros, but stays insouciantly lounged in his chair and signals one of his servants to refill his goblet. 

Nikandros greets Laurent warily with his title. 

“Kyros,” says Laurent easily. 

“Leon, it’s time to go,” says Nikandros. 

Leon glances at Laurent, reluctant to leave when not all of his questions have been answered, and Laurent makes a little shooing gesture at him, and Leon obediently goes off with Nikandros. 

Damen is late going to bed himself. He lingers with Aratia in the tent she shares with Eradne, listening to her happily retell all of the details of the dancing contest earlier in the day and encouraging her to rest, dream of dancing, and reassuring her that her prize ribbon will still be next to her on the pillow when she awakes the next day. 

So when Damen retires to his own tent, he finds that Laurent is already there, looking uncertain.

“You’re here again,” says Damen. 

Laurent speaks with the affected drawl he sometimes uses, and it annoys Damen. “Well, I thought Nikandros might bar the tent door, but he seems busy.”

“Good,” says Damen.

Laurent is a bit surprised by that. He expected Damen to expect him, by now – two appearances was certainly enough for Damen to see a pattern. But he hadn’t thought that Damen was looking forward to his visits. 

“Tonight,” says Damen, “I want you to fuck me.”

Laurent is even more surprised by that. They had before, of course. There had been the first time, at the summer palace, when Laurent’s skin had been a bit pink and the sundrenched days had blurred into each other and Damen had whispered “Do you want?” and Laurent had swallowed and nodded. 

They had a few times after that, as well, when the mood struck, but it had never been what they did most frequently. It hadn’t been what Laurent had been thinking about, coming here tonight.

“Why?” says Laurent.

“Well,” says Damen, “you are just here for sex,” he throws Laurent’s words to Nikandros that morning back at him, and Laurent forces himself not to flinch. “And that’s what I want,” says Damen, raising an eyebrow challengingly.

“Fine,” says Laurent.

“Fine,” says Damen, and then they stare at each other for a long moment before either of them move. 

They each take off their own clothes. Their eyes keep meeting across the tent in a vaguely challenging way, as though each keeps waiting for the other to back down.

It’s not like the night before, when Damen had seemed determined to undo Laurent with tenderness. Tonight it’s athletic and energetic and Laurent forgets himself as he finishes with a shout that can probably be heard beyond Damen’s tent walls. He collapses on the bedroll next to where Damen is still on his hands and knees, breathing heavily. Damen hasn’t come yet, and Laurent is given a pleasant view of him, from this angle. The light is behind Damen, and he can see the outline of the muscles of Damen’s arm, the strength of his chest, the shadow of his hard cock. 

Damen looks up at him, and there’s a hunger in his gaze that Laurent hasn’t felt in years. Damen reaches for the oil, and then holds the phial in his hand and raises an eyebrow in question at Laurent. Laurent nods, and rolls onto his stomach, and bites his lip against shouting again at the deep pleasure of Damen sliding inside of him.

***

Nikandros and Leon have a bit of a dispute after Nikandros drags him away from Laurent. Leon is frowning and willing to be led, but once they are safely away in the Akielon portion of the camp, Leon says, “I don’t think King Laurent is as smart as you said, Nikandros.” Nikandros doesn’t know if he’s annoyed or pleased by this assessment, and his face makes a complicated expression. 

The following morning, Nikandros very pointedly goes nowhere near Damen’s tent in the morning because he wants to pretend to himself that there’s no chance he’ll run into the Veretian king sneaking out of it.

Later in the morning, Laurent is making a particular point to seek out Damen’s quietest child, his daughter Eradne. Laurent finds her reading under a tree, and he asks her very politely if he can join her. 

Eradne, who is seven, seems to consider this for a moment, and then she nods decisively. Laurent seats himself next to her under the tree.

“What are you reading?” he says, in Akielon.

“A book,” she says, with a tone that indicates that ought to be obvious.

Laurent nods. Eradne looks at him for a long moment. “Are you a ghost?” she says.

Laurent takes that question very seriously. “No,” he says. “Do you often talk to ghosts?"

Eradne wrinkles her nose. “No.”

“I see,” says Laurent.

Eradne is really thinking about ghosts now. “Have you ever talked to a ghost?” she says.

Laurent considers this also. He has a knee up and he laces his hands around it. “I tried a few times but I’m not sure he was listening.”

Eradne nods. “I’m not a ghost.”

“Ah,” says Laurent.

Eradne then clarifies that she didn’t really think that Laurent was a ghost. It’s just that at home, everyone talks about him like he was dead. With the same sort of odd tone and hushed whispers they use when someone mentions Uncle Kastor or King Theomedes, who are dead.

“But I haven’t ever talked to their ghosts,” Eradne says.

Laurent nods seriously. 

Eradne continues. “Also you’re very pale. So I thought I should ask.”

“That’s very practical of you,” says Laurent. “I brought you a gift.”

He hands over a book tied with a ribbon.

Eradne pulls the ribbon off thoughtfully. 

Laurent explains the gift. “This was my favorite book when I was a boy.”

Eradne nods. “Leon has this book!”

Laurent smiles. “Yes, I gave it to him, a long time ago.”

Eradne seems surprised by this. “You know my brother?”

Something hurts, deep in Laurent’s chest, but he just smiles at Eradne, and she turns back to the book.

Damen has spotted the two of them together and is watching from a distance. He’s too far off to hear them talking, but he can see them looking at each other, and pointing to the book, and something tight and deep in his chest hurts also.

***

Laurent goes to Damen’s tent again that night. They have sex quickly, with an edge of desperation, and then they settle a bit, Laurent sitting on Damen’s lap facing him, kissing slowly. 

“I will miss this,” says Laurent. Damen feels his heart is beating so hard that Laurent must feel it through his chest. You don’t have to miss this, he wants to say. We can have this again. A kingdom or this.

Damen swallows. “Leon is fourteen.”

Laurent looks at him. His eyes are very blue.

“It’s traditional for boys of fifteen or sixteen to spend a few seasons away from home, to learn at another keep,” Damen continues.

Laurent nods, he knows this. 

“I thought,” says Damen. “You might have him in Arles?”

Laurent sucks in a breath. He would have never thought Damen would make such an offer. 

“If you are willing?” says Damen, since Laurent hasn’t said anything.

“Yes,” Laurent says quickly. He’s already thinking of it, of what he could teach Leon in a season, perhaps two seasons. Of taking Leon hunting, and showing him the library, and telling him about each of the members of the council. “Yes,” says Laurent again, finding Damen’s eyes and meeting them. “I would like that very much.”

Damen nods. Laurent leans in and brushes their lips together softly as a thank you.

Damen’s gesture seems to merit a gesture from Laurent, so he offers Damen a truth. “Leon is my heir,” he says.

Damen is surprised, Laurent can feel it in his body at Laurent’s words. He absorbs the information. “I see,” says Damen. “Perhaps a longer fostering would be appropriate.”

Laurent closes his eyes briefly and rests his head against Damen’s shoulder. It means so much, Leon coming to stay with him. The offer of time when Laurent might not be alone, the idea of friendship with Leon. Perhaps Leon might correspond with Laurent even after he returned to Ios. 

“I need to tell you something,” says Laurent. 

Damen makes a noise to indicate he’s listening.

“You have another son,” says Laurent.

“What?” says Damen.

“In Vask. From…the night at the coupling fire.”

Damen is leaning back now to look Laurent in the face. “What?”

“He’s fourteen also,” says Laurent. “His name is Dunas.”

Damen sucks in a breath.

“He’s so amazing, Damen,” says Laurent, finally speaking of a secret he’s held to himself so long. “He’s so much like you, and he’s the most amazing rider.”

Damen huffs out a half laugh. “I suppose you gave him a horse.”

Laurent laughs lightly. “Three horses,” he confesses.

Damen wraps a hand around Laurent’s face and draws him in for a kiss. “Does he know, about me? Would he–-can I meet him?”

“I write to him sometimes,” says Laurent. “I can ask him.”

Damen kisses him again, then pulls back and looks at Laurent’s eyes again. “I’d like that.”

***

So Damen and Laurent have arranged between themselves that maybe Leon would go stay with Laurent in a few years. 

Leon is not that patient, though. He’s been talking to his siblings–-who have each been wowed in their own way by the Veretian king–-and he talked with Laurent and with his father, and Prince Leon is firmly of the opinion that it was one kingdom once and it can be again. The problem is just that his parents are not being smart about this.

Therefore, when the festival ends, Leon sneaks away from the Akielon procession and hides out in one of the Veretian wagons. 

He’s not able to hide for very long. Aratia notices he’s missing after half a day and tells Nikandros, and then Nikandros searches the whole Akielon procession and then tells Damen, and then Damen starts a full fledged search of the surrounding countryside and turns the whole procession around back to the meeting place. 

Meanwhile Leon’s disguise and hiding out skills are about the same as Damen’s, which is to say he crawls out of the wagon when it’s stopped and he thinks it’s finally night time and manages to half-fall out of the wagon in full daylight right in front of Laurent, who raises an eyebrow.

Laurent sits Leon down and corners him into a stammering explanation of what he’s doing, and then he turns the Veretian procession back around to take the prince back. 

Leon is pouting, more because his plan is not going as he wanted than because this is bad. 

“I want to stay with you,” says Leon.

“Only with your father’s blessing,” says Laurent.

“You don’t even like my father,” says Leon.

Laurent turns on him sharply. “I love your father.”

“Then you two should be together,” says Leon. 

Laurent doesn’t reply. 

The two processions make it back to the festival grounds at about the same time, and Damen breathes a sigh of relief when he sees Leon riding next to Laurent. 

They ride to the center of the festival ground and Leon sits on the horse and Damen says, “Get down,” and Leon finally lowers his eyes in shame and dismounts the horse and waits for the lecture from his father but Damen just hugs him tight. 

Damen tells Leon he was worried when Leon disappeared and that Leon should never worry him like that again. Leon mumbles an apology, but then gets stubborn. “I want to stay with Laurent.” Damen looks his son in the eyes, and then nods decisively. 

“Fine,” he says. “We’ll send your things.”

Leon starts to object, but Laurent has dismounted his horse also and places a hand on Damen’s arm. “Could I speak with you?”

They walk a distance away from the others to speak in low voices. 

“Do you not want Leon to go with you?” says Damen.

“I would love to spend more time with Leon,” says Laurent. “But it has recently come to my attention that Leon has perhaps more courage than I do.”

“What do you mean?” says Damen, trying to keep a tiny blossom of hope from blooming in his chest. Laurent probably doesn't mean–-

“I spent much of last night dreaming of doing the same thing. Of hiding among your things and sneaking back to Akielos.”

Damen is trying not to think what he desperately wants to think. “Jord might notice you were missing.”

“I’m better at hiding than your son,” says Laurent, smiling.

“Our son,” Damen corrects.

Laurent swallows, and then nods his agreement. “Damianos,” he says. “I don’t really want to hide. But I do not wish for you to leave.” Laurent swallows and keeps going. “Would you be–-could we-–try some other arrangement?”

The flower has fully bloomed in Damen’s chest now. “Are you saying you wish to have a relationship?”

Laurent nods. “If you will give me…give us a second chance.” He holds his breath on Damen’s answer.

But Damen doesn’t answer, because he steps closer to Laurent and leans in and kisses him, wrapping his arms around Laurent to hold him close.

In the background, Leon is very smug and claims credit for this for years to come. Nikandros is hiding his face in his hands and swearing he can feel himself going grey just because of Damen. Eradne is reading her book and not paying much attention at all, Aratia is excited because Leon is excited, and Euandros is making a face at his father kissing in public, ew gross.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> on tumblr: [link](http://josselinkohl.tumblr.com/post/164955169602/part-77-in-which-the-angst-fic-turns-into-the)


	22. Chapter 22

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I have a terrible fic idea.

It’s omegaverse and Auguste-is-alive. The concept is that Laurent is an omega and in addition he is sick. He refuses to mate with any alphas and his heats are coming more and more frequently and they have reached the point now where they are near constant and ever worsening. He’s feverish and delirious and becoming weaker and Paschal does not think that he will live much longer if they do not do something.

Auguste is very worried for Laurent so Auguste and Paschal decide that they must arrange for Laurent to mate with a suitable alpha. Paschal thinks that if he becomes pregnant his heat-sickness will cease. Auguste is concerned not only about Laurent’s health, but also, Laurent isn’t married, and any child that he has will be a bastard, and Vere is not kind to bastards, nor to their parents. So Auguste wants to give the child to the father, whoever that is, and he wants the father to treat it well, which rules out any other Veretians. A Veretian father would consider the child a bastard and deny it or neglect it and Auguste is not willing for that to happen.

Auguste knows that Akielons do not have the same prejudices, so he decides that an Akielon must be the father. He’s met Damen before, and they got along backslappingly well, and there is a convenient upcoming tournament of sports or martial arts or whatever between the Veretians and the Akielons so Auguste uses this as his opportunity. He arranges for Laurent to be conveyed to the border in a litter, since Laurent is still not very well, and then Auguste goes to talk to Damen alone. 

Damen is sort of hesitant at first. But he remembers little Laurent from the last tournament fondly, and Auguste is a friend and obviously worried out of his mind and Damen wants to help. And Damen doesn’t like the idea of someone else mistreating Laurent or not caring for the child. Auguste is making an emotional appeal and saying things like, “Your brother is a bastard so I know you would raise the child well in Akielos!” and Paschal is there and pointing out that if Laurent goes through three or four more heats he might die from heat sickness.

Damen agrees to see Laurent. Laurent is mostly delirious. He is tied up with soft restraints because Paschal and Auguste were trying to keep him from hurting himself or escaping to find alphas. Damen can smell him even as they are approaching the room. Damen has had omega slaves who have gone into heat before, but nothing has ever smelled like this. 

Laurent can smell Damen approaching as well, and Laurent sort of stills and his eyes focus on Damen. Auguste is excited because this is more lucid than Laurent has been the last few days. Damen just goes over to Laurent and immediately starts removing all of his restraints.   
Laurent just watches him and usually Laurent throws a fit about anyone coming even remotely near him so Auguste is holding his breath.

Damen says, "My name is Damianos."

Laurent says, "I know who you are, Damianos." 

Damen says, "Do you want to--"

Laurent says, "Yes," and basically lunges at Damen. Auguste and Paschal back out of the room awkwardly.

Damen leaves a day later. Paschal reports that Laurent is sleeping calmly and Auguste thinks everything is well. He’s so relieved. Except that after a couple of days of being well--good, even, better than Laurent has been in months--Laurent begins to get a fever.

Auguste demands Paschal tell him what is happening, and Paschal is tending Laurent and Paschal says he’s going into heat again.

They have a whispered argument in Laurent’s bedchamber. Auguste is like, “But we! Damen!” and Paschal is calmly pointing out that omegas do not become pregnant every time they are knotted.

But this is especially bad. Auguste had gone to great pains to bring Laurent to the tournament, but they are supposed to leave the next day and he’d made arrangements for afterward, also. By this point Laurent was already supposed to be pregnant and Auguste was going to sneak him off to Aquitart and hide him there until the child was born and then sneak the child off to Akielos and return Laurent home.

But now Laurent is still not pregnant and still obviously unwell and also his delirious ramblings are now completely about Damen. So Auguste carries delirious Laurent and sneaks him carefully to the Akielon side of the camp and has to be careful to avoid any alphas and he finally finds Damen’s tent and goes inside. 

Damen is immediately worried about Laurent. Auguste says, “You have to take him with you.”

Damen’s eyes widen. He’s can’t just show up back at home with a Veretian prince. Nikandros will be upset and Damen was already worried about how he was going to explain the arrival of his bastard to his father but he thought he had nine months to figure that out.

Laurent is sort of desperately reaching for Damen.

Auguste is still arguing. “What if it does not work again tonight? I can’t care for him--he needs to go with you.”

So Damen agrees to take Laurent back to Akielos with him.

Nikandros is very skeptical as predicted, but everything sort of works out because while their second heat together still does not result in a child, the third heat -- which takes place when they are on the ship back toward Ios -- does. Then the other alphas in the Akielon party can smell that Laurent is pregnant, and it’s more understandable why Damen would take an omega pregnant with his child along with them. 

So now Laurent is recovering from heat sickness and he finds himself on a ship headed to Akielos of all places and he’s pregnant with the prince of Akielos’s child? He’s kind of annoyed with Auguste about all of this. Damen is all tender and fussing and Laurent is annoyed about that also. 

Laurent himself isn’t sure how he feels about bastards. On the one hand, he remembers how terrible it was while he was sick. That was awful. He hated it. He would have done almost anything for it to end. This is much better. He feels excellent. And hungry. Very hungry. And also horny though he ignores that and glares at Damen and eats extra instead.

But the point is he feels good and if he were off at Aquitart as they had planned everything would be excellent.

But instead he’s in Ios. And Damen is blind to half of what’s going on in his own court. Damen keeps talking about the child and how well he will treat it. And how Akielons do not care about bastardy. But Laurent can see how things are. Kastor may live at court but he isn’t inheriting and he isn’t pleased about that. Theomedes clearly favors his natural born son even if Damen doesn’t recognize that. 

Meanwhile Damen and Laurent are starting to get to know each other a bit and maybe bond a little.

Kastor sees Laurent and Laurent’s child as another threat between him and the throne he covets so he’s not fond of Laurent. Theomedes tolerates Laurent in a chauvinistic “oh my son is so virile, ha, ha” kind of way. Damen fusses whenever Laurent tries to do anything, even if it’s like walk in the orchard. 

“You might trip on a stick,” Damen objects, and Laurent threatens to beat Damen with the same stick he’s so worried about.

Everyone still has their worries.

Laurent is frightened of leaving the child, and also that Damen is going to end up murdered by his half brother.

Damen has fallen for Laurent and does not want him to leave.

Theomedes is starting to worry about how far gone Damen is about this omega.

Kastor is plotting ways to kill Laurent and the child.

Auguste is worried about Laurent and writing concerned letters.

Paschal is worried because he thinks Laurent is unfortunately likely to relapse into heat sickness shortly after he stops nursing, and if he doesn’t nurse because he leaves the child in Akielos and returns to Vere he might sicken again very rapidly.

Eventually Damen and Laurent get into a giant fight and Laurent runs away from Ios. Damen goes after him and finds him a few days later in a cave and Damen apologizes and tells Laurent how worried he was and how desperate and Laurent is coaxed into confessing his own fears, which are that the child will not be treated as well as Damen’s real children someday and also that Kastor is going to kill the child and Damen too for good measure.

Damen says, “I have an idea of how to solve that.”

Laurent says, “Kill Kastor first?”

That was not what Damen was thinking. Damen was thinking that they should get married. Because then the child will be legitimate and they can raise it together and it can be Damen’s heir.

Laurent is surprised. He had not thought of marriage. He supposes he’d assumed that Damen would make a political marriage of some sort, and of course none of this had been arranged about a relationship, it had always just been about the child. 

Damen thinks this should not be that surprising. Laurent is a prince also. He is the mother of Damen's child. This is only natural. 

Laurent agrees to marry Damen.

Nikandros just rolls his eyes. Kastor is seething. Theomedes tolerates all of this because at least the omega has proven he's fertile and now Theomedes can have lots of grandchildren.  
Paschal thinks this is good because Laurent can stay with the child and stave off heat sickness and if he is married he does not have to make other arrangements for when the child is weaned and the sickness might strike again. Laurent writes to Auguste who is surprised but kind of a romantic and okay with it.

They go off to the Kingsmeet for a traditional Akielon royal wedding. Laurent is giant. Everyone wonders if he will make it through the wedding before giving birth. 

Laurent does make it through the wedding, though shortly afterward he and Damen retreat to the summer palace with Paschal and almost as soon as they are there Laurent does go into labor. Damen feels like he couldn't be happier even though Laurent is absolutely vicious while in labor. But afterward he also is content. He can't imagine leaving the baby with Damen, or letting someone take it away from him. They name the baby Leon.

Auguste visits and gives Prince Leon lots of gifts. Theomedes likes his grandson very much and thinks Laurent should have at least seven more. Kastor still seethes but Laurent keeps him in line. And Nikandros continues to roll his eyes a lot.

the end.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [reblog on tumblr!](http://josselinkohl.tumblr.com/post/160163165612/i-have-a-terrible-fic-idea-more-its)


	23. Laurent Time Travels AU (the other direction)

Okay, so the remaining piece is when past Laurent is substituted for present Laurent. And at the same moment that Laurent appears in the past, lost in the summer palace and looking for Damen, past Laurent is transported from Arles and ends up in Akielos.

He’s much worse off. He awakes to a series of unpleasant revelations, one after another:

1\. He’s not alone. He’s next to someone.

2\. He doesn’t know where he is. He doesn’t recognize the bed or the room or anything. 

3\. He has no idea how he got there.

4\. The seasons have even changed? He’s so confused.

5\. He’s not wearing any clothes.

6\. There aren’t even any clothes in sight. 

7\. The person next to him looks like a foreigner.

8\. The person next to him actually looks like his archnemesis Damianos of Akielos.

In a panic, Laurent starts to half scramble out of the bed, half cover himself with a sheet. Damen wakes up in the commotion.

Damen is like, “what’s wrong?”

But he’s speaking Akielon.

Past Laurent doesn’t even have very good Akielon. He starts shouting in Veretian. Damen switches to Veretian but still can’t make sense of anything Laurent is saying. 

Nikandros runs in with his sword drawn because of all of the shouting, and Laurent is not pleased by the appearance of another Akielon – this one with a weapon! 

Anyway, after a while Damen sends for Paschal because Laurent clearly seems disturbed.

Paschal is fetched. Laurent is relieved to see someone he recognizes as a Veretian. It becomes apparent that Damen and Nikandros are somewhat upsetting to Laurent, and they retreat to let Paschal tend Laurent privately. 

Laurent tries to get the full story from Paschal: “When were we captured?”

Paschal is like, “Captured, highness?”

“By the Akielons!”

Paschal decides Laurent must have a head injury that’s affecting his memory. Meanwhile, Laurent observes Paschal’s easy nature with Damen and decides that perhaps Paschal is in on the treachery that’s led him to this position.

Paschal can’t get anything that makes sense out of Laurent. He asks things like “Does your head hurt?”

And Laurent says, “How many of them are there?”

Meanwhile Damen and Nikandros are quite worried. Damen can’t give anything useful to Paschal either. “We were asleep!”

“What were you doing before you fell asleep?”

Damen blushes. Nikandros rolls his eyes. Paschal takes a hint.

“Anything unusual?”

“No!”

***

Paschal is trying to figure out if Laurent somehow got a head injury? Or is drugged? And Damen is stammering and blushing and recounting what they did in bed amidst much protesting from Laurent. Laurent is denying he would ever consider doing these things with Damianos of Akielos of all people, and Damen is offended that anyone thinks he would have done these things if Laurent hadn’t been enthusiastically in agreement at the time, and Laurent keeps appealing to Paschal for support and Damen looks to Nikandros for support and Nikandros is just shaking his head like, I am not getting involved in this.

It’s a terrible argument. Damen will say what happened, like, “And then, I sucked him.” Laurent objects that this is disgusting and he would have never permitted it. Damen argues with him. “You asked me to!” Laurent loudly protests how ridiculous that is.

The argument only gets sidetracked because Laurent announces he wants clothing. They woke up naked and Laurent is clutching a sheet around himself and he’s not going to put up with that any longer. Damen is standing next to Laurent’s clothes from the day before so he hands Laurent a chiton.

Laurent objects that he already has a sheet and Damen handing him another is useless and he wants actual clothes.

Damen sends a servant off to find one of Laurent’s trunks of Veretian clothes. No one is quite sure where they are – they’re at the summer palace so he wasn’t planning to wear anything besides Akielon clothes. 

The trunk is fetched eventually. Paschal has made no progress diagnosing Laurent in the meantime. The clothes within it are relatively new, and Laurent doesn’t recognize any of them. He insists they aren’t his. Damen objects that they fit Laurent. Laurent insists he knows his own clothing and these aren’t his. Everyone else remembers the weeks of negotiation with the tailor doing justice to Charls’s cloth so they are kind of giving each other looks about Laurent.

Laurent wears the clothes anyway. At least they fit.

Then, Laurent announces that Damen killed his brother and he’s not going to talk to the Prince Killer any longer. Damen can face him over swords but Damen is not worth his breath otherwise. He proceeds to ignore Damen and try to leave the camp. Damen follows him around worriedly and everyone else in the camp tries to not explicitly disobey Laurent but also not let him leave because he is definitely not himself. 

Eventually Laurent tires of Damen following him around and draws a sword on him and Damen draws defensively and they fight and Damen finally starts to realize while they are fighting that there is something profoundly wrong with Laurent. Because Laurent fights differently. His style is different. And he’s not as good. And he and Damen had been practicing a certain move a few weeks before and now Damen gives Laurent an opening to use it and he doesn’t take it. And that surprises Damen enough that he does it again, giving Laurent an even more obvious opening, and Laurent doesn’t take it again. 

So Damen manages to pin Laurent without his weapon, and then Damen is the one calling for Paschal insisting that there is something very wrong because, “This is not Laurent” and poor Paschal and Nikandros exchange glances like “oh dear now they are both crazy.”

***

Past Laurent keeps trying to kill Damen. Eventually Paschal and Damen negotiate with him that they will take him back to Vere if he stops trying to kill Damen. He agrees warily. Damen is the only one who believes that Laurent is going to keep his word in this agreement and Nikandros keeps watching his back. No one wants to let Laurent go off to Vere by himself but they also can’t really keep him in Akielos against all of his objections, so it’s hard to know what to do. Damen is moping and alone since Laurent avoids him.

While they are on their way to Vere they encounter Makedon. 

Damen is off sitting by himself. Nikandros is watching for Laurent in case Laurent comes to kill him.

Laurent does show up, surprisingly, though, since he usually avoids Damen. This evening he’s like, “Hide me!”

Damen is very pleased that Laurent has come over to him voluntarily but raises an eyebrow at Laurent’s comment.

Laurent says, “He keeps slapping me on the back! And talking about hunting and trying to make me drink this swill.”

Damen smiles fondly. “He likes you.”

Laurent scoffs at that. “I can’t imagine why.”

Damen just smiles again. “You bonded. You just don’t remember.”

Laurent sits down next to Damen in front of the fire. Makedon has perhaps been successful in getting Laurent to have some griva so Laurent is like, “There’s a lot of things you claim I don’t remember.”

“Yes,” Damen says.

There’s a moment of silence. Damen continues. “I wonder where our memories diverge. You remember Marlas?”

Laurent looks at him acidly. “When you killed my brother?”

Damen takes this remarkably evenly. “Yes.”

Damen has a sudden realization of how to progress. “How old are you?”

Laurent looks at him like this is a ridiculous question. “Eighteen,” he drawls.

There’s a dawning look of realization on Damen’s face. 

Laurent is confused. “What?”

“No, you are twenty-one,” Damen says.

This causes an argument. Laurent objects that he knows how old he is, and how would Damen know how old he is anyway. Damen recruits help and is like, “Nikandros!”

“Exalted?”

“How old is Laurent?”

Nikandros looks long-suffering. “Twenty-one.”

“And how do you know that?”

Nikandros has this expression he’s worn a lot recently that shows that he thinks Damen is also losing his mind. “Because there was a giant fete when he came of age last year?”

Damen looks back at Laurent in triumph. Laurent is not convinced. They argue some more.

They continue to other notable events. There was a large flood in Patras the year Laurent would have been nineteen. Everyone knew about it. But Laurent doesn’t know about this.

Damen turns to people, quizzing Laurent about some of their mutual acquaintances.

He knows Jord. He doesn’t know Lazar. He thinks Aimeric is the younger son of one of the councilors but he’s never met him.

Damen is hesitant for a moment. “Nicaise?”

“That pipsqueak?” says Laurent. Damen flinches; the timing makes sense but he was kind of hoping for a different answer.

But Laurent is not content being questioned for long. He wants to know how Damen knows all of these things. Conquering Vere and taking Laurent prisoner wouldn’t tell him who Nicaise is.

“What’s the last thing you remember?” says Damen, but all Laurent remembers is going to bed after a party in the gardens in Arles. Then he woke up in Akielos. 

Damen listens intently. Laurent says, “I suppose you are going to tell me that when I turned nineteen I woke up insane and rode for the border to become allies with my worst enemy.”

“No, it was nothing like that,” says Damen.

“Did I at least try to kill you?” says Laurent.

“Yes, multiple times.”

Laurent makes a satisfied noise. Damen finds himself helplessly charmed. He’s reminded of Torveld wooing Laurent on the balcony, and Laurent showing his claws just a little.

“Well, then, how is it that I failed to kill you and ended up in Akielos?” says Laurent.

Damen is scratching his chin. How to explain this? Finally: “Well, my brother and my former lover conspired against me and sent me to Vere as a slave as a gift to you.”

Laurent stares at him. That seems preposterous. But why would Damen make that up?

“A slave?” Laurent says.

“A pleasure slave.”

Laurent stares at him again. “I suppose I would like that.”

Damen makes a face. “I think it upset you.”

“You think?”

“Well, we weren’t exchanging confidences at the time.”

Laurent laughs. Damen continues to feel hopelessly charmed. Laurent expresses some doubt that Damen would make a convincing slave. He’s wondering to himself about if he would have used Damen, thinking about him as a pleasure slave. “My uncle allowed me to keep a pleasure slave?”

Damen makes a face at that question. 

This has set Laurent off on another round of questions, though. “Where is my uncle? Is he in Arles?”

Damen hesitates. “You executed him.”

Laurent is not sure what to think about this. “Who is ruling Vere?”

“We are.”

***

All of this – Damen thinking he’s 21, all of the things Damen seems to know, the idea of Damen as his pleasure slave, the notion that the two of them rule Vere together – it’s a lot for Laurent to take in.

Makedon shows up again and interrupts so Laurent is saved from even more revelations to process. Instead, Laurent is dragged off and accepts the offer of more griva. He asks Makedon and some of Makedon’s generals about some of the things that Damen said, trying to learn if they were true. Makedon seems to treat everything as an excuse to toast again with griva.

Once drunk, Laurent is better able to contemplate all of the things that he’s learned. His mind keeps turning to the idea of Damen as his pleasure slave. He keeps thinking of what he might have done to Damen. What would Damen have looked like, as a slave. Would he have worn a collar and a slave’s paint? A slave’s silks? Laurent imagines it. He pictures the Damen he knows in that type of attire. He imagines Damen’s arms. He likes Damen’s arms. He can’t stop thinking about them. He’s drunk and he should have never let this happen.

He imagines that Damen would have fought him, if he were his slave. Damen is strong. Laurent pictures his arms again. He’s a prince, it’s not like he’d just roll over. Or would he? 

Laurent thinks again of the confusing morning they’d woken up together, and all of the stories Damen had told the physician of what they’d done the night before. Had those things really happened? He’d awoken that morning feeling like a victim, like somehow Damen was taking advantage of him, that he was at the disadvantage in Damen’s bed, but perhaps it had been the way around. Perhaps he had been using Damen for his pleasure. Damen had told Paschal that he’d been using his mouth to please Laurent, after all. 

Damen has been keeping an eye out for Laurent drinking with Makedon, and after Makedon heads off to bed Damen goes over to help Laurent up from his cushion and off to his own tent.

Damen helps Laurent into bed like in Kings Rising. Laurent is still thinking about all of the things he’s learned. “Suck me,” he commands Damen, trying it out. 

Damen raises an eyebrow at him. “You don’t mean that.”

Laurent frowns. He feels quite sure he does mean it. “You’ve done this before.”

Damen doesn’t dispute that is true. “You’re drunk,” Damen says. 

“I know you want it,” says Laurent. “I can tell in the way you look at me.”

“You aren’t yourself.”

Laurent is starting to feel impatient. If Damen is his pleasure slave he should be more obedient and it should not be this difficult to get him to perform sexual favors. “He would have loved me like this,” Laurent says, without thinking.

There’s no reason that should mean anything to Damen, but he blanches. “Sleep it off,” Damen says shortly, and he leaves.

***

Past Laurent becomes more agreeable and stops actively trying to kill Damen though he continues to show his claws and Damen continues to be helplessly charmed. Laurent begins taking swordfighting lessons from the man he’s intending to fight; this makes sense in his own head, how better to prepare? And he has a discrepancy now, in his head, between Damen (who he has met here in the future), and Damianos (who killed his brother). If he spoke of this to Damen, Damen would tell him he is one and the same, but Laurent does not speak of it.

Other things begin to make a bit of sense. The whole premise is still magical and confusing but other pieces fall into place. Isander, who has been serving Laurent, confesses to Paschal that Laurent does not have all of the scars he used to have, and this matches Damen’s assessment from fighting him that eighteen-year-old Laurent’s body is different from the Laurent that he knew. 

No one can offer an explanation for why past Laurent has appeared, though.

Then, one day, a rider approaches the camp. And Damen comes to look over the ridge at the road, and past-Laurent trails behind him, and Damen’s watching the rider carefully with his eyes narrowed, and then suddenly Damen is laughing and running down from the ridge toward the road. Nikandros is swearing and trying to give Damen a weapon and yelling at the king’s guard to follow him.

Past-Laurent follows also, and so past-Laurent is able to watch as the rider slows to a stop, the figure on the horse turns out to be him, and the second Laurent dismounts the horse and throws himself gratefully into Damen’s waiting arms. 

There is chaos. Damen and Laurent refuse to let go of each other and go through the next few minutes alternately squeezing each other and staring at each other with helpless smiles, talking over each other and listening to no one.

Nikandros is lecturing Damen about how foolish he is, and hasn’t he learned that not everyone is as they seem, and what if this had been one of the Laurents who was trying to kill him? He might be dead and it would be his own fault.

The second Laurent finally focuses on Nikandros’s words, makes a face about how nonsensical they are, and is like, “Laurents who are trying to kill him?” and then his gaze lands on past-Laurent and second-Laurent’s eyes widen and he trails off.

The second Laurent seems to process all of this more rapidly than would seem possible, looking the other Laurent up and down and then saying, “Is this why you suddenly left the Summer Palace for Vere?” and Damen squeezes him again and nods and Laurent is nodding like that makes sense and he says “It took me extra days to catch up with you, I could not understand why you would leave for Vere without me.”

Damen starts asking what happened, as though Laurent could explain that, but the second Laurent has ducked out of Damen’s embrace and walked over to his counterpart. 

“Seventeen?” Second Laurent says.

Past Laurent swallows. “Eighteen.”

Second Laurent nods, looking him over again.

Past Laurent says, “So, I suppose all of the things he has been telling me are true after all.”

Second Laurent laughs. “I do not know what he has told you, but yes, yes, undoubtedly so.” Second Laurent throws his arm over past-Laurent’s shoulders now (past-Laurent stiffens) and the second Laurent leans his face in close to past Laurent’s ear as though confiding a secret but speaks loudly enough that Damen and Nikandros can hear him clearly: “After all, he is terrible at deception.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [this ficlet on tumblr](http://josselinkohl.tumblr.com/post/162353782822/previous-parts-one-two-three-four-past)


	24. Chapter 24

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anonymous asked: I wish you would write a fic where both Damen and Laurent are inexperienced at sex and drink hakesh...

Kastor had been invited to join some of the women at the coupling fire, but the clan chief had waved a dismissive hand at Damen. “We sleep with men, not teenagers.”

Damen had wanted to protest–he was old enough to have his own favorites at the palace in Ios-–but his father shook his head, and Damen swallowed his pride and accepted a wineskin of liquor as a consolation prize.

Since Damen was banned from the coupling fires, he was assigned to be the chaperone of the visiting Veretian prince. The prince was his own age, or perhaps a year younger. Damen understood from the Veretian ambassador that the prince was forbidden from being alone with women, because of the Veretian stigma about bastardy.

They were assigned a tiny tent together. Damen would have filled the tent alone; with the Veretian prince curled into a corner wearing a fur cloak Damen had to settle himself awkwardly on his knees in the remaining space.

Damen decided to be hospitable. He offered the prince the liquor.

The prince sneered. “Are you intent on torturing yourself?”

Damen defiantly took another drink.

“It’s like you don’t even know the effects of the drink,” said the prince.

“It’s polite to accept what the Vaskians offer,” said Damen.

“You’re not Vaskian,” said the prince.

“I’m Damianos of Akielos,” said Damen.

“I know,” said the prince, making no move to introduce himself.

***

A couple of hours later, Damen had drunk most of the liquor, and had convinced the prince to have a few mouthfuls. The prince had not lost his acid tongue, but Damen was ignoring most of his jibes and thinking fondly of his favorite slaves.

“What is it like, with women?” said Laurent.

“It’s wonderful,” said Damen. He could hear the sounds of sex from the coupling fire, and the drink and the noises and his thoughts had caused him to start to be aroused.

Laurent made a skeptical noise.

“You’ve really never?” said Damen, turning his head toward the prince.

Laurent swallowed the last drops of hakesh from the wineskin. “I don’t–-” he hiccoughed, and Damen laughed lightly. “I don’t care for women.”

Damen nodded. “I prefer it,” he confided. “But men have their charms.”

Laurent set the winesack down. “You’ve–-” he gestured, Damen was uncertain what it was supposed to mean. “-–with men?”

“Yes.”

“And what is it like, with men?” said Laurent.

Damen shrugged. “One mouth is much like another.”

Laurent’s eyes were wide in the the darkness. “What about when they take you? As a man takes a boy.”

Damen shrugged again. “I wouldn’t know.”

“You haven’t?”

“It’s not done,” said Damen. “A man of lower rank cannot take a higher ranked one. I could only be fucked by a prince.”

Damen said it without thinking. There was a moment of silence while Damen thought about what he had just said.

“I can solve that for you,” said Laurent.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [reblog on tumblr!](http://josselinkohl.tumblr.com/post/156871506917/i-wish-you-would-write-a-fic-where-both-damen-and)


	25. Headcanons about Laurent's headspace and Damen's fear of spiders

I have this complicated headcanon that post-Kings Rising Laurent starts to learn more about Akielon culture, and that Akielos has notions which would be so foreign to Vere. They have, in my head, complicated traditions around polyamory, with various models for such relationships and words for political and business relationships which are different from personal relationships and different from sexual relationships, and it makes learning the language very hard but also the mental map of what it all means is hard. Pallas is apparently betrothed and carrying on with Lazar and Lazar just shrugs like ‘hey apparently we can fuck and still go to war even if he gets married, so whatever’ and the Akielons are acting like this is natural, they have a word for this type of relationship, and none of this makes sense to Laurent.

And then I think he has a lot of opportunity to worry about what Damen wants in this myriad of choices, and how Laurent has no idea how to ask him, because he does not even understand the right vocabulary, and when he tries to talk to Damen, Damen is useless, and says things like “I only want you to be happy” and Laurent needs more details. Does making Laurent happy involve taking a mistress and installing her in the royal wing, or occasionally sleeping with Vaskians at the coupling fire, or any of the dozens of arrangements past kings of Akielos have apparently made?

And the Veretian council is trying to give a name to the relationship between Damen and Laurent, and Laurent does not know how he feels about that. He doesn’t really like when Herode tries out words that make no sense – he laughs when someone refers to Damen archaically as his 'boon companion’ – but he also doesn’t know what he thinks about this type of talk at all. He had assumed that there were no words for what he was, and for what he was forming with Damen, but now apparently these had words in Akielos all along and he just didn’t know them and he doesn’t like feeling so ignorant.

This is all tied up with how he feels about sex, also. There are a whole variety of words in Akielos for how to feel about sex and relationships, reflecting higher and lower sex drives and interest in certain people or types of relationships, and Laurent is deeply intrigued by the existence of such words and how casually the Akielons seem to use them. Nikandros is uninterested in monogamy, apparently, and this is well known by his friends and treated so lightly that it is mentioned as an afterthought or in a light tease at dinner. 

It’s not that Laurent is unfamiliar with discussions of sex – he’s well aware that the entire Veretian court has been talking about sex, and specifically him having it, or their ideas of what that would be like, for at least six years. But the Akielon conversation isn’t lewd – well, it isn’t generally, though occasionally when drunk they spill interesting lewd ideas as well – it’s just oddly open and honest.

I think this is weaving into a previous headcanon of mine about there being a book of Akielon sex positions that Laurent finds out about when wrestling Nikandros. And Laurent reads the book with interest, which Damen assumes is prurient, but Laurent finds himself most interested in the text about the relationships of the depicted ancient Akielon mythological figures. This was Lumos and his pair of lovers, one caption reads, and that seems to be a different distinction from the 'threesome’ labeled opposite it, but why is one group of three different from another group? 

They hunt down Jokaste because of the baby, and while Laurent generally does a reasonable job hiding his ignorance and insecurities, Jokaste sees them immediately and uses them ruthlessly against Laurent.

Damen is becoming slightly less clueless, so he pulls Laurent aside privately later and says “Tell me.”

Laurent is still off-kilter and he’s trying to fake it so he’s like “Tell you what.”

“She knows something; she is manipulating you. She can only use it against you if you don’t tell me what it is.”

This is true, this is actually a good insight on Damen’s part, and it would defuse Jokaste immediately, but Laurent doesn’t even know how to describe the scope of his ignorance and insecurity.

This leads to an excruciatingly drawn out conversation where Damen is implacable and Laurent has no idea what to say and talks a lot but completely around his purpose.

Damen starts guessing at Jokaste’s comments, but he’s ludicrously off, guessing at things that would be important to the state, important policy decisions. 

This makes Laurent angry, so finally he bursts out and says, “No! It is much more trivial than that! She plays on my one insecurity, of course it is you, what else would it be.”

“Me.”

Laurent is breathing fast and having that post-outburst feeling where you realize you’ve already said too much and start to think about how to take it back.

Damen continues. “Did she threaten me?”

Laurent hisses. “I would have killed her.”

Damen just looks at him, still implacable, waiting for Laurent to make this make sense.

“Jokaste…taunts me….with the notion that your affections might be fickle.”

Damen frowns. “You believe that?”

It’s more complicated than Laurent has let on but he’s still hoping that there is some path that leads to not talking about this.

“Not everything that frightens us is logical. Your fear of spiders–”

“Many spiders in Akielos are poisonous! A bite might kill a strong man!”

Laurent is successful in bringing up spiders at distracting Damen, at least temporarily, but then later they are eating in an inn and Laurent can feel Damen’s eyes on him the whole meal, and so after they eat he makes some excuse about checking on the horses.

It’s a reason to hide, but he is too transparent, and Damen finds him brushing the horses in only a few minutes. 

“You’re supposed to be bathing,” Laurent says. “You–”

“Tell me how we disarm her.”

“You checked her very carefully for weapons.”

“How can I show you that Jokaste’s words have no power to turn me.”

Laurent swallows hard. “I’m not worried you’ll fall for her.”

“What are you worried about?”

Laurent is almost to the point where he would say “Look, a spider!” and hope to not get trampled by either Damen nor the horse in the ensuing confusion. Short of that, he has to get past Damen to get out of the stall. He steps closer to Damen, sniffs delicately. “You should really be bathing.”

“Tell me. What has you so nervous you babbled all afternoon. How can I make it better.”

Laurent takes a step back, makes his expression serious, and begins, “You could bathe–”

“Be serious.”

“It’s not–" 

Laurent trails off and Damen stares him down. "She only has any power if there are secrets between us, Laurent.”

“It’s not a secret.”

“I love you, Laurent,” says Damen. “I would announce it in front of the city–”

“–you have–" 

”–if that would make a difference. I don’t want you to wonder about my feelings.“

"I don’t!”

There is some additional pointless arguing. 

Finally Laurent comes out with it. “What does it mean, though, love.”

Damen looks about to burst into poetics.

Laurent keeps talking to prevent him. “When you say you love me, what does that mean, to you?”

Damen clearly wants to step closer to Laurent but the horse won’t tolerate it. “It means everything, Laurent.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [this post on tumblr](http://josselinkohl.tumblr.com/post/169463931302/josselinkohl-josselinkohl-i-cant-bring)


	26. Captive Prince/The Raven Boys fusion

My headcanon tonight is a Captive Prince Raven Boys fusion. It all starts when Kastor steals Laurent’s car and Damen takes the fall for it:

Damen had a rule about Aglionby boys; he stayed away from them because they were trouble. 

During the school year, the academy couldn’t contain all of the sweaters with Raven emblems, and the whole town of Henrietta was filled with boys who cared more about style than substance. None of them had a speck of honor. They’d lie to you as soon as look at you.

Damen’s half-brother Kastor didn’t like Raven boys any more than he did; if anything, Kastor liked them less.

Kastor liked cars. He liked fixing old ones up almost as much as he liked racing them.

Yet Damen had never known his brother to steal them, so the new Audi in the garage was a surprise. That the car belonged to a blond Raven boy who showed up that evening with two detectives and half a squadron of police officers to raid the garage almost seemed like an afterthought.

The police seemed to take a long time collecting evidence. Damen had answered the door politely when they’d arrived but they still put him in handcuffs.

Unbeknownst to Damen, Laurent is especially keen to see Damen take the fall for this because his uncle has hinted to him that the reason Auguste died in a car accident is that Damen did shoddy work on Auguste’s car before the accident. 

Laurent is sixteen but looks younger. 

Damen: Are you even old enough to drive?

Laurent: Yes, this is definitely the man who stole my car, and I do want to press charges.

Damen is seventeen but ends up tried as an adult because Laurent has better lawyers? Or racism? That sort of thing. 

Damen works out a lot in prison, and becomes extremely muscular. He gets out eighteen months later, which happens to be right in the middle of the winter of Laurent’s senior year. 

Damen falls back into his previous habits, working in the garage his father left to him and Kastor.

Kastor came in just as Damen was about to abandon his efforts on the Buick. Kastor watched over Damen’s shoulder for a moment.

“You get it?” Kastor said.

“No.” Damen stood up, looking down at the engine with a frown. “It’ll have to be a replacement.” 

Kastor reached for the valve Damen had been reassembling.

“Don’t—” said Damen, but he was too late. Kastor drew his burnt hand away, cursing creatively.

Damen grabbed a cold can of soda from the mini fridge in the garage and held it out to Kastor, who placed his fingers on it gingerly.

“I told you not to do that!”

“Sorry.”

Kastor had never been comfortable with Damen’s gift. When Damen had been in kindergarten, his nanny had been making cookies, and while she wasn’t watching, Damen had opened up the oven and taken a half-baked one off the tray to eat. He’d known at the time that doing this was wrong, but because stealing cookies to eat when you weren’t given permission was wrong; not because he could touch the oven rack and the cookie sheet and the hot melted chocolate without being hurt.

The nanny had yelled at him and slapped his hand — that had hurt more than touching the oven — but she had been too afraid to tell Damen’s father because it would have involved mentioning that she had been on the phone with her boyfriend while she was supposed to be watching him. Kastor hadn’t always been around at their father’s house — he split his time between his mom’s and their father’s. But he had been sitting at the kitchen table with his homework, and Kastor had never liked Damen’s peculiarity. 

Kastor switched the Coke to his other hand and looked at his burnt fingers gingerly, then grasped the cold can with them again.

It wasn’t that Damen couldn’t feel temperature — he could sense that the oven was hot when he was five and he could tell now when he was working on a hot engine. It was just that it didn’t hurt him. He mostly tried to pretend that it did, because it annoyed Kastor and he didn’t want to call attention to himself among people he didn’t know. But sometimes it was easier to ignore when he was alone.

“Whatever,” Kastor said, waving his unburnt hand toward the engine. “This one’s yours. I’m going to ice this.”

After Kastor goes off to ice his hand, Damen thinks he hears something outside. He goes to investigate, and he sees Laurent, the same blond raven boy who had him thrown into prison, sneaking off into Cabeswater behind the garage.

Even as children, he and Kastor knew better than to play back there, and Damen wouldn’t let his worst enemy wander around alone back there in the dark. So:

“Going out there by yourself is a terrible idea,” said Damen, reflexively reaching out to grab Laurent’s arm.

They froze, standing next to each other, Damen’s hand resting on Laurent’s upper arm. Laurent was characteristically dressed in layers that peaked out behind his scarf at the top of his wool winter coat; Damen doubted that Laurent could even feel the pressure of his fingertips through all of the fabric. Both of their eyes rested on Damen’s fingers. 

“Let go of my arm,” said Laurent.

Damen let his hand drop. Laurent stepped away. 

“Sorry,” said Damen, not entirely certain why he was apologizing. The reflected fluorescent light from the garage made Laurent’s hair look almost silver in the dim light.

“If you touch me, you’ll die,” said Laurent.

The words seemed like a threat, but Laurent didn’t sound threatening. Damen had heard the hard tone of Laurent’s voice when he’d arrived with the police to collect his car and have Damen dragged away in handcuffs, when his voice had been unflinching with an edge of smug superiority. His words now sounded like a calm statement of fact.

That first night, Damen follows Laurent around and it’s not clear what Laurent is looking for or why he’s doing this. 

The next night, Damen is more prepared. When Laurent shows up again, Damen is watching and waiting for him.

Laurent just stares at him, disgusted.

Damen: This is a terrible idea.

Laurent: You have a scar. 

Damen looks down at his own chest, where he does indeed have a scar from trying to repair an engine that blew up in his face. (It was Auguste’s car that exploded, though neither of them realize this, and the reason it exploded is because of the curse that Laurent’s uncle put on it.) Damen shrugs.

Laurent: Put on a coat.

Damen doesn’t actually have a coat – he doesn’t bother, given his immunity to temperature – but he steals Kastor’s coat and runs after Laurent in the woods.

Damen tries to get Laurent to explain what they are doing. Laurent is uncommunicative, and because this is a Raven Boys fusion, he mutters to himself in Latin.

“We are not doing anything. I am doing something and you are following me.”

“My Latin is better than yours, sweetheart,” says Damen.

This at least gets a sharp look of surprise from Laurent.

Anyway, they continue this searching for a few more nights. They aren’t finding anything. They start to build a grudging camaraderie.

Then it’s a weekend, and Damen gets dragged by Nikandros to a party. It’s not an Aglionby party, but Damen comes across a few of the Raven sweaters there, boys who are slumming it, or trying to, and then he comes across one of them who is wearing gloves and he’s like – Laurent? – and then Laurent kind of half runs into him because Laurent is completely wasted.

Damen is confused, and like, “What happened to you?” and “Are you okay?” and Laurent is vicious, absolutely vicious, and Damen is like, “You’ve got to get out of here, time to go home” and he starts manhandling Laurent to the door, and Laurent is shouting “Don’t touch me!” but this is the type of party where you can be shouting “Don’t touch me” and no one really pays attention to the guy manhandling you out the door. That’s fortunate for Damen.

Anyway Damen doesn’t know where Laurent lives and he figures he’d probably get arrested if he took Laurent there anyway, so he takes Laurent back to where he lives over the garage and helps Laurent pass out on their couch.

The next morning he makes Laurent some coffee and serves him some orange juice and Laurent sits at the breakfast table wearing his freaking scarf and gloves. Damen is like, “Your virtue is safe, chill.” Damen asks Laurent where his car is, so Damen can take him back to it.

Then, Laurent is like, “I don’t actually have a car anymore” and Laurent confesses that he was disinherited the day before, hence the uncharacteristic drinking binge.

Then the next day it’s in the paper that there was an Aglionby student who died at a party. Damen reads this and is like – please not him, please not him – even thought that makes no sense, he knows he got Laurent out of the party.

Anyway it was Nicaise, Laurent’s cousin. The paper says it’s a suicide; drugs.

Damen doesn’t know what to expect, then. He doesn’t hear Laurent’s car that night, but Laurent is there anyway, heading for Cabeswater. Laurent stops in the garage now to raise an eyebrow at Damen like, “Well?” and Damen doesn’t even bother to grab Kastor’s coat and follows Laurent in his tank top.

This time, in the woods, they are almost run over by a car. It’s weird. Damen sort of knows none of it makes sense, and yet it’s so real. He instinctively pulls Laurent out of the way of the car. Laurent is like, “Don’t touch me!”

But Damen shoves him away from the car and ends up on top of him and then Laurent is pushing him away and they are tussling and as Laurent tries to get free his glove is pulled off and suddenly their fingers touch.

Laurent is furious, and horrified, and seems almost hysterical. He keeps saying “No no no no no.” He pulls his glove back on.

Damen is more concerned about the ghost car that almost hit them. And also that Laurent seems to be having a panic attack, and he knocked Laurent over, is he hurt?

Laurent: You touched me!

Damen: The ghost car almost hit us!

Laurent is brought to confess that he freezes whatever he touches. Everything he touches dies. There’s a traumatic story to this where he touched his favorite horse and she died and then he never touched anyone again.

Damen is like, “Well, how does that even work? Did your mom wear gloves when she held you as a baby?”

Laurent just gives him a withering glare and says, “I wasn’t born this way.”

Damen: I was.

And Damen explains his strange immunity to temperature.

There can be an awesome visual of the two fo them in the forest, Damen in his tank top and Laurent in his dozens of layers of coats and scarves and gloves and his messy blond hair, staring at each other.

Laurent, relieved Damen isn’t dead, comes out with further confessions about how his brother died, and the car, and his uncle. 

I will hand wave a bit here. But basically there needs to be a confrontation with Damen and Laurent and Laurent’s uncle where he admits to killing both Auguste and Nicaise, and then he’s speaking softly to Laurent in a very creepy way, and Laurent takes his glove off, and when his uncle is close enough to him, Laurent reaches out and touches his uncle’s face, and he turns to ice and shatters.

It’s not fast like a movie effect, Damen thinks. It’s slow and looks excruciating and Laurent is crying and Damen has no idea what to do.

The next morning, Damen wakes up and it seems like none of it is real. It feels like he could have dreamed it all, or maybe someone is on their way right now to arrest him for murdering Laurent’s uncle, he doesn’t know what to think.

He runs errands and he comes home and there’s a fancy car he doesn’t recognize in the garage, and he’s like, “Kastor!” He’s ready to seriously hurt his brother this time, since Kastor does not seem to have any brains whatsoever, stealing another car.

But Laurent slides out of the driver’s seat of the car, and he tosses the keys over the car to Damen, who catches them reflexively.

“Do you need repairs?” says Damen.

Laurent rolls his eyes, fondly. “It’s a gift. For helping me.” He pauses. “I got my inheritance back.”

Damen looks at the keys, and then walks around the car and goes to shake hands with Laurent. He holds out his hand. Laurent looks at it, and hesitates. And then Laurent waits longer, and Damen is patient, and then Laurent takes off his glove, and then, very cautiously, takes Damen’s hand and seems quite shocked when Damen is fine and pumps it heartily in thanks.

Later, Damen and Laurent are hanging out, and Laurent confesses that he had thought maybe after his uncle was dead he wouldn’t be cursed anymore, but he had tried touching a spider and it still froze.

Damen isn’t wearing a shirt during this and Laurent is sort of distracted, also.

Laurent doesn’t really want to talk to Damen about why he thought that his uncle’s death in particular would maybe have cured him, because then he’d probably have to explain that it was his uncle’s abuse that turned him that way in the first place (more specifically, when he was rejected and replaced by Nicaise), but fortunately for Laurent Damen just quips lightly back at him, “Well I’ve heard a rumor about how to break a curse.”

And Laurent is like, what’s that. He’s expecting something researched, perhaps involving Latin.

Damen says, “Well, I was watching Snow White–”

“Why were you watching–”

“–And her curse is broken with a kiss.”

Laurent trails off and his eyes are very wide. Damen leans in closer to him. Laurent thinks that Damen should definitely put a shirt on, his abdomen is obscene. Or maybe he should never put a shirt on. Damen is very close now, and Laurent thinks he might be on the verge of hyperventilating when Damen finally kisses him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [this post on tumblr](http://josselinkohl.tumblr.com/post/168698814007/previously-in-this-headcanon-part-1-part-2-part)


	27. Damen and sex toys; Laurent watches.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anonymous asked: damen and sex toys; laurent watches.

“If you don’t want to…” Laurent let his voice trail off.

Damen turned from looking at the toys spread out on the bed to where Laurent was sitting in a chair across the room. “I am–I just–” Laurent thought that Damen was beginning to appear slightly pink; he kept his face straight with an effort. “It seems very excessive.” Damen gestured at all of the toys. “Are such devices really necessary to please oneself?”

“Not everyone is as spoiled for partners as you are,” Laurent drawled.

Damen was definitely pink now. “That’s not what I meant.”

“You aren’t even sure what to do when there’s no one else in the bed with you–”

“I know–”

“–I suppose once you’re the king it’s easy to forget how to do things yourself–”

“That is not–”

Laurent riled Damen up a bit more, and Damen finally silenced him by becoming even louder. “I do not require instruction on how to touch myself!”

Laurent raised an eyebrow and let his expression say, prove it.

Damen sat down on the bed, pointedly ignoring all of the toys and looking at Laurent defiantly. Laurent crossed his legs and propped an elbow on the arm of the chair, resting his chin in his hand. It was a casual posture that belied how interested he was in what Damen was doing.

For all of his insistence that he knew what he was doing, Damen’s behavior seemed uncertain. He stripped off his chiton and tossed it on top of the selection of toys as though he wanted them to be out of sight. Then he reached for himself with the same sort of determined expression he had during athletic practices, grasping his cock in his hand with a resolute set to his jaw as though he were beginning a series of exercises.

Laurent suppressed a smile.

Damen looked at Laurent. “Are you certain you don’t wish to come over–”

“I told you, I wish to watch.”

Damen’s eyes on Laurent were restless, and then he closed his eyes and began to stroke himself lightly.

“Do you always favor your right hand?” said Laurent.

Damen’s eyes flew open. “Laurent.”

Laurent raised an eyebrow again.

Damen cleared his throat. “Yes.” His voice had a defensive tone. “You prefer your right also.”

Laurent made a noise in his throat. “For sword-work.”

“And with a quill,” said Damen. Laurent nodded. Damen’s gaze narrowed. “But not in bed?”

Laurent waved his hand slightly. “Calluses.”

Damen was now clearly trying to picture Laurent touching himself with his left hand, and it was doing him some favors, because with his mind distracted by that image his body was relaxing and he seemed less self-conscious about what his hand was doing.

Damen stopped, then, and Laurent could see that he was half-hard. He set his right hand down on the bedclothes deliberately, and reached for himself with his left. 

Laurent half-smiled.

Damen frowned slightly now as he touched himself. “I feel uncoordinated.”

Laurent let himself laugh, lightly. “Your swordsmanship is good with both hands, and here you have neglected your–”

“Your tongue–” Damen started, and both of them let their banter fade to silence. Laurent watched for a few minutes. Damen let his eyes close again, and Laurent let his gaze fall over Damen’s face, with his forehead still creased in concentration and his lips slightly moist. He lingered on Damen’s chest, watching the rise and fall of his breath and the tightening of the muscles of his abdomen. He watched Damen’s hand. He was fully hard now, and Laurent could see a pearl of liquid forming at the top of his cock. He waited for Damen to touch it. Laurent wanted to taste it; he had to distract himself. 

“I suppose this is adequate,” he said.

Damen blinked his eyes open, looking annoyed now. He let his left hand drop and switched back to his right. “You said you wanted to watch.”

“I thought you might do something–” Laurent paused. “Interesting.”

“Like flirt with one of those strange glass toys,” said Damen.

“You don’t like them?”

“I don’t understand why men would bother.”

Laurent let his voice deepen a register. “Perhaps they like the feeling of something inside them.”

Damen groaned a little. “Do you like that?”

Laurent ignored the question. “Sliding something inside to feel filled, to enjoy that delicious pressure–”

“Laurent, you will–” Laurent was sure this was Damen’s attempt at warning Laurent that Laurent’s voice was actually far more effective than any of the ignored toys.

“But I suppose if you find that excessive,” Laurent continued, letting his voice be slightly disappointed.

“Laurent,” Damen said again, and he stretched out his left hand toward Laurent entreatingly. He only seemed to be able to manage Laurent’s name.

“You may finish whenever you like,” Laurent said, with another dismissive wave of his hand, and Damen’s eyes widened in surprise but he was finishing without seeming to be able to stop himself.

Laurent approached the bed. The heels of his boots seemed loud against the marble floor. He tossed a towel on Damen’s chest, and Damen used it to wipe at himself cursorily. He missed a streak of come and it was still glistening on his chest. Laurent didn’t say anything.

“You’re still dressed,” Damen said. He reached for the laces at Laurent’s wrist and tugged at one of them. “Come to bed.”

“I wanted to watch,” said Laurent.

“And you did,” said Damen, tugging again on the lace and drawing it through the holes. “But now perhaps you wish to be watched?”


	28. Akielon sex furniture

Today’s headcanon. Akielons have special furniture for having sex. 

Laurent finds this very confusing and excessive, partly because the Akielons assume everyone knows and don’t talk about it, and they only do it in private so there’s no opportunity to observe how all of the furniture is used. 

Damen grew up with this so he think it’s only practical. Of course you have furniture for sex. It’s only logical. Doing it in bed is fine, but it’s…romantic. Like for special occasions when you are feeling sweet and lazy. 

Obviously this will eventually lead to Laurent asking about what all of the furniture pieces are. He doesn’t know about all of the Akielon traditional sex positions because Damen hasn’t shown him the book. 

Damen’s the king so naturally he has a whole room full of sex furniture that Laurent eventually discovers. Laurent stops in front of a particular piece. “What is this for?”

Damen hesitates.

Laurent says, “No, don’t tell me, show me.”

Damen is hesitating even more. 

Laurent raises an eyebrow. “Or should I ask Nikandros to show me?”

Damen answers quickly now, “No, I’ll do it.” He come next to Laurent and undresses Laurent like he did when Damen was his slave. Then, Damen has a hand between Laurent’s shoulder blades, and he gently pushes Laurent down.

The position is…exposing. Laurent can only imagine how he must look. Damen isn’t saying anything about it. But Laurent finds the furniture surprisingly comfortable. There’s a convenient place for his hands. 

Laurent assumes, from the way he’s positioned, that the intent of the piece is to be used for fucking. It’s in Damen’s rooms, it’s probably built specifically for Damen’s height. 

What Laurent doesn’t know, is that it’s actually traditional to use this particular piece to spank your lover. So, that’s a surprise. Hahahhahahaha.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [this post on tumblr](http://josselinkohl.tumblr.com/post/165932221652/todays-headcanon-akielons-have-special-furniture)


	29. Leon and Laurent fighting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> steelestingray replied to your post: I’m a slut for any Lamen baby content but…maybe the first time he gets in trouble with Laurent? Haha like REALLY big trouble! Then Damen has to deal with a 5 year old and his husband giving each other the silent treatment

Okay, I don’t think that Leon and Laurent really get into a fight until Dunas arrives when Leon is seven. 

It’s tradition in Vask that around when boys turn seven they leave the women’s tribe to go live with their fathers, and so Dunas’s mother brings him all the way to Akielos to come to stay with Damen. 

Dunas happens to arrive on Leon’s seventh birthday, and Leon thinks at first that Dunas has arrived as a birthday present just for him and gives Laurent a giant hug. Laurent says, “Actually this present from your father” and so Leon gives Damen a giant hug also. 

Anyway, Dunas’s arrival is a big adjustment for everyone. Dunas misses his mother and his Akielon is only so-so. Damen is terrified that Dunas and Leon will end up rivals as he and Kastor did. The palace artists are trying to catch up with the arrival of another prince by painting “baby” portraits of Dunas. In one of them a toddler Dunas is hunting an elk with a spear. Laurent thinks it’s hilarious.

Leon embraces it at first, tugging Dunas along to play with him or to sit on Laurent’s lap for stories even when Dunas is a bit shy and reserved. 

But Leon is very spoiled and eventually he too goes through some adjustments. His jealous treatment of Dunas results in a severe lecture from Laurent and then Leon has a tantrum where he proclaims that Laurent isn’t his real parent anyway, which actually causes Laurent to look a little stricken, and then Damen is terrified because Leon being jealous of Dunas is playing to his worst fears of brothers not getting along and also he’s always been afraid that Laurent wouldn’t feel as much a parent of Leon as he wanted him to be, and Leon is in the middle of a giant tantrum and Laurent has left the room and Dunas is just standing in the corner with huge frightened eyes. 

Fortunately nothing is as terrible as Damen fears.

Leon starts crying very loudly. Dunas starts crying too but silently. Damen is tempted to cry also but fortunately Laurent returns. 

Leon wants Laurent to hold him but Laurent insists that he apologize to Dunas first. Leon does.

Damen then insists that Leon apologize to Laurent also. 

Laurent shrugs this off. “He didn’t say anything untrue.”

Damen is furious at that. “It was untrue and he hurt your feelings,” Damen insists, and by now Leon has progressed to professing that he is sorry “for everything, hold me, please” and Laurent picks him up. He’s getting to be too big for that but he likes to be held when he’s upset anyway.

Laurent kind of nods at Damen and then tips his head toward where Dunas is still looking wide-eyed in the corner, and Damen opens his arms toward Dunas sort of awkwardly, but then Dunas runs over and Damen picks him up also.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [this post on tumblr](http://josselinkohl.tumblr.com/post/165669564057/ok-so-and-grabs-popcorn)


	30. Another child after the 10 Year Reunion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A tiny epilogue to [The Angsty 10 Year Reunion](http://archiveofourown.org/works/6808978/chapters/27132645).
> 
> Anonymous asked: Who gets jokaste pregnant when lamen get back together OMG

Anonymous asked: Who gets jokaste pregnant when lamen get back together OMG  
Damen does, anon, but Laurent arranges it.

Damen and Jokaste had already been rarely sleeping together by the time Damen reunites with Laurent, so they kind of retain their status quo even as Damen and Laurent start again. Jokaste still has the official position of king’s mistress but spends her time in her own rooms on her own pursuits. 

Laurent’s the one who wants another child and coaxes Jokaste into the idea, and then Laurent’s the one who arranges for Jokaste to go to the king’s rooms and makes himself scarce when Damen goes to bed. 

Damen goes in to find Jokaste there and is puzzled. But they’re comfortable together, they’ve had a working relationship for ten years, so he pours her a drink and she unfastens some of his jewelry and then has her hand on the pin on his chiton, and Damen takes her hand and moves it away. “No, thank you.”

Jokaste narrows her eyes. “So this is only his idea.”

“What do you mean?” says Damen.

“I didn’t know if it was all his idea or if you were in on it also.”

“In on what?” says Damen.

“He wants another child.”

The pieces all fit together for Damen. “And he’s convinced you?”

Jokaste nods. 

Damen reaches for her hand and moves it back to the pin on his chiton. Jokaste has a satisfied smile.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [this post on tumblr](http://josselinkohl.tumblr.com/post/164973349852/who-gets-jokaste-pregnant-when-lamen-get-back)


	31. Threesome with Jokaste

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anonymous asked: What would a 3P with Jokaste be like!? It's keeping me up at night.

Okay, so, threesome with Jokaste needs some set up. 

First, we have to get Jokaste back at court and not exiled or whatever. She comes back and Damen is grumpy about it at first but tolerates it because he wants to be close to his nephew. She and Laurent have a hilarious relationship based on the most complicated and subtle digs at each other in veiled references. Most of it goes over Damen’s head but clearly they both love it. 

Anyway, Jokaste then starts to position herself to sleep with Damen again, and she’s going after the child angle. Shouldn’t the king have a child? Don’t the kings want an heir? 

Damen kind of starts of the mindset that he’d rather sleep with LITERALLY ANYONE ELSE, but Jokaste is in the long game with this positioning. 

Laurent is actually more sold on it than Damen. He wants kids – he wants Damen’s kids – and for better or for worse Jokaste is already the mother of one of Damen’s relations. 

Jokaste can tell Laurent is the path to success here and is focusing her arguments on him. 

Laurent and Jokaste finally negotiate it in the least sexual way imaginable. They’re both ice cold and could have been talking about a trade circuit in Isthima. They settle custody rights for the child. 

Jokaste says, “Your husband seems a bit reluctant.” That’s an understatement.

“I’ll take care of it,” says Laurent, and Jokaste just raises an eyebrow at him and lets it go.

So Laurent gets Damen on board. By on board we mean that Damen has stopped saying “no absolutely not” every time Laurent brings it up. He still comes to the arranged meeting a bit hesitant about the idea. 

This means that Laurent and Jokaste have to work together to get Damen in the mood. 

They understand each other quite well, so they are having a conversation with their eyes across the room. Jokaste is saying, you said you’d take care of this. Laurent is saying, I got him here, didn’t I? 

Anyway they both favor the element of surprise and a degree of calculated risk in their strategies, so they decide that the best way to get Damen involved here is for the two of them to start making out. 

It’s a performance. Neither of them would do this if they were alone, but they’re not alone, AND they both have enough of a voyeuristic streak to like Damen’s eyes on them. 

It works, too, because Damen is not able to watch this for very long before he’s crossing the room to touch.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [this post on tumblr](http://josselinkohl.tumblr.com/post/164638684597/what-would-a-3p-with-jokaste-be-like-its)


	32. Akielon traditions of threesomes on your anniverary

What if it were an Akielon tradition to celebrate your third anniversary as a couple by having a threesome?

Three years after Kings Rising a lot of bets start being placed.

Laurent learns of the tradition from Makedon, who volunteers his services while clapping Laurent on the back.

Pallas thinks that if he wins a big upcoming wrestling match maybe he’d be honored by being selected.

Jokaste has mysteriously just returned to court.

And Torveld is visiting…

***

Pallas tells Lazar about the tradition. Lazar isn’t Akielon but he’s like, sure, whatever. He’d have been game for a threesome even without the tradition excuse. He’s like, “Who do you want to ask?”

Pallas stammers and starts to blush. Lazar knows this is going to be good. Pallas finally confesses he wants to ask Laurent.

Lazar had been starting to smirk, but this causes him to flat out stare in shock at Pallas.

Pallas gets even more nervous. Does Lazar think that it would be offensive, if they asked? It’s an ancient tradition and it’s supposed to be an honor to be selected. Pallas is nobility even though his father is just a minor lord, and–

Lazar does not care about any of that. He’s like, “Seriously, you want to be fucked by the ice king?”

Pallas is now refusing to make eye contact but he gives a shy little nod.

Lazar starts to think about it. The whole camp had used to be full of talk about fucking Laurent. Lazar is trying to actually picture it now. Pallas is squirming next to him, clearly turned on by the idea and still embarrassed to have brought it up.

So Lazar says, “Fuck yeah. Let’s do it. Ask him, go for it.”

Pallas tries to ask Laurent twice but keeps chickening out, which leaves Laurent very confused (he can tell something is up). Finally Lazar is like, “I’ll take care of this” and goes off to talk to Laurent himself, probably in the most crude of terms.

Meanwhile, Damen happens upon Pallas and Aktis and Lydos all drinking. He’s like, “What’s going on?” Everyone seems very anxious.

Pallas is insistent that nothing is happening, but Aktis explains that Pallas is nervous because Lazar has gone off to make the invitation for their three year threesome. Damen is like, “Oh! Yes! I suppose it is about three years for you, isn’t it?” Because of course it’s the same for him and Laurent, they just celebrated a month prior.

Pallas nods miserably. “Who is Lazar asking?” says Damen.

Everyone is suddenly silent as a clam.

Damen becomes more suspicious. “Who is it?”

He eyes Aktis and Lydos but they are quite loyal, so Damen turns the ‘your king expects an answer’ look on Pallas.

Pallas quails under the look and is like “Lazar is asking his highness, exalted.”

Damen is like – “Oh!”

And then Damen wanders off kind of full of thought. Would Laurent accept? Damen knows what an honor it is to be picked. It’s hard to say no. But then, Laurent won’t know that. Laurent wouldn’t do it, would he? Would he? Does Laurent want to fuck Pallas? Damen can’t picture it at all. But then he starts thinking about it. Okay, now he can picture it. Now he can think of nothing else…

***

Laurent would draw out the suspense, you know?

Damen finds him after he encountered Pallas and Aktis and Lydos and Damen has been thinking about this a lot by this point, so he’s like, “Well?”

And Laurent is all, “Well, what?”

“Did you accept?”

Laurent could draw this out longer but Damen is so desperate looking that Laurent is like “Oh you mean Lazar’s invitation.”

Damen nods.

“I told him I have to think about it.”

Damen is like “oh.” But inside he is like, think about it? What does that mean? That is not ‘no.’ And what is there to think about? Either Laurent wants to have sex with them or he doesn’t, there isn’t a lot of thinking that has to happen.

Pallas is having a similar conversation with Lazar. “He said he’d think about it.”

Except Pallas is more optimistic about this answer, and also very pleased that Lazar took the initiative to go ask Laurent, so Pallas shows his appreciation to Lazar very prettily.

The next few days are driving Damen wild because he can’t stop thinking about it himself, and yet Laurent–who is supposedly thinking about it–doesn’t seem to be thinking about it at all!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [part 1](http://josselinkohl.tumblr.com/post/164541184382/what-if-it-were-an-akielon-tradition-to-celebrate), [part 2](http://josselinkohl.tumblr.com/post/164686825567/okay-so-i-am-still-thinking-about-the-akielon), [part 3](http://josselinkohl.tumblr.com/post/164747091602/you-do-know-you-have-to-finish-this-now-right-you)


	33. Masochistic Laurent

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anonymous asked: I'm mostly a sucker for soft sweet fluffy Lamen but now I can't help thinking about masochistic Laurent.. How will he ever convince Damen, though?

Say it starts with a fight. They are sword fighting for practice except both of them are disarmed at this point and they’re still fighting and Laurent kneed Damen in the groin and Damen is fairly confident he’s cheating somehow and Damen tackles him to the ground and as part of the whole fight Laurent ends up bruised. Neither of them think much of it at the time, after Damen finally wins they are both laughing and helping each other up, but later Damen spies the bruise and feels bad and apologizes. Laurent shrugs it off.

Later, the bruise has turned another color, and Damen spies Laurent kind of poking at it and touching it. So Damen apologizes again. And Laurent then looks him straight in the eye and says, “I like it.”

Damen frowns.

Laurent keeps touching the bruise and kind of hisses a little at the feel. Damen reaches for him and takes his hand and pulls it away from the bruise. Laurent is still looking at him very deliberately. 

And then Damen finds himself kind of helplessly reaching. He touches the bruise also. Laurent allows this. Damen is so gentle at first, he’s barely brushing it. 

He circles around the bruise gently with his fingers. Laurent watches. And then, holding Laurent’s gaze, Damen presses down more firmly and Laurent sucks in a breath.

They fall into bed.

The next morning, Damen sees Laurent touching the bruise again. Laurent catches him watching. Laurent gives him kind of a secret smile. Damen feels helplessly in love and turned on and everything all at once. 

They are busy and life goes on. A few days later, Damen observes that the bruise has gone away. It’s healed. He and Laurent are cuddling in bed after having sex and Damen kind of rubs absently at the spot the bruise had been. Laurent looks at him as if he knows what Damen is thinking. Though Damen isn’t really thinking anything.

Laurent is like “You could hit me again.”

It’s Damen’s turn to suck in a breath. His eyes flick up to meet Laurent’s. Laurent’s eyes are clear and blue and meet his.

“Would you like that?”

Laurent looks at him.

Damen rolls on top of Laurent. Laurent likes that also, but it’s not a good position to hit him in. Damen is pretending to think about it. He’s like “I don’t know, what if you hit me back.”

Laurent laughs. He puts his hands on Damen’s shoulders, which are huge. “You could probably survive it.”

Damen still wants to talk more though. Laurent likes talking in general and he likes dirty talk, but he is surprisingly shy about talking in bed. He doesn’t talk about what he likes or doesn’t like or whatever easily. it seems odd to him, but Damen seems to find it very natural. Now Damen is nosing at his neck and still on top of him and Damen is just like “Do you like pain?”

It’s hard because Laurent overthinks everything and Damen doesn’t … but then he has a question like this and Laurent doesn’t even know how to answer it. Damen lifts his head and looks up since Laurent isn’t answering. Laurent can’t find the right words. 

Damen asks all sorts of other questions. He’s like “What if I pulled your hair? or” he demonstrates pinching Laurent hard as the second one. 

Laurent hisses at that and he’s like “yes.”

Damen says, "You like that?”

Laurent manages “All of it. I like all of it.” It was very hard for him to say that, harder than it was for Damen to ask it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [this post on tumblr](http://josselinkohl.tumblr.com/post/163827298722/im-mostly-a-sucker-for-soft-sweet-fluffy-lamen)

**Author's Note:**

> [all of the author's Captive Prince fanfic](http://archiveofourown.org/users/Josselin/pseuds/Josselin/works?fandom_id=3516977), [come follow me on tumblr](http://josselinkohl.tumblr.com/)


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